The Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros 7-3 in game 2 on Wednesday completing a two-game sweep of the AL Wild Card series at Daikin Park this marks the White Sox first postseason series victory since they swept the Astros in the 2005 World Series
The Early Onslaught The White Sox pounced on the Houston Ace Hunter Brown in the top of the first inning, scoring four runs on 5 hits and capitalizing a two Astros defensive errors. Brown was chased from the mound after recording just two out.
The Astros Claw Back Houston slowly fought The way back into the game feel the long ball. Jeremy Pena, Cam Smith, and Jose Altuve each hit solo home runs to trim the Chicago lead to 4-3 by the fourth inning .
The Critical Turning Point: In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Astros load the bases with two outs. Jose Altuve lies out to right field, letting the White Sox escape the jam and preserve their lead
The Decisive Blow: In the top of the sixth inning White Sox second baseman Chase Meidroth crushed a towering three run homer off of Houston reliever Brian Abreu extending the lead to 7-3.
Shutout Relief the Chicago bullpen slammed the door combined it for five shutout innings of relief to secure the victory.
HOUSTON (AP) From 100 losses to their first playoff series win in two decades, these scrappy Chicago White Sox just keep outdoing themselves.
The White Sox used a big first inning and a three-run homer from Chase Meidroth to propel them to a 7-3 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday to sweep their AL Wild Card Series.
“I’m proud of the guys and certainly happy for them as they’re probably the only ones in this country that believed that they could be in this spot,” manager Will Venable said. “And they maintained that belief in the beginning of the season and went throughout the season maintaining that, and they made it happen. So it’s awesome to get to this point.”
It’s the first time Chicago has won a playoff series since beating Houston in the World Series in 2005. Under the direction of Venable, the second-year skipper, and with a letter of support from Pope Leo XIV, the White Sox advanced to face AL Central champion Cleveland in the AL Division Series beginning Saturday in Cleveland.
“It means everything for our fans,” Meidroth said. “They have been incredible all year. So the main thing was getting back to Chicago for some postseason baseball, and so we’re really blessed that we get to do that.”
The White Sox, who lost 100 games in each of the last three seasons, are the only team in major league history to follow consecutive 100-loss seasons with a playoff berth.
The AL West-winning Astros went 81-81 to become the first team to reach the postseason without a winning record. Their recent playoff woes in Houston continued Wednesday as they dropped their ninth straight home playoff game in a ninth trip to the postseason in the last 10 years.
Chicago pounced on the Astros for four runs in the first inning a day after scoring three in the first two innings of a 6-3 win. Houston ace Hunter Brown was lifted after getting just two outs and wasn’t helped by a sloppy defense which committed two first-inning errors.
He was 6-0 with a 2.39 ERA in six career starts against the White Sox before Wednesday’s debacle.
The Astros clawed their way back into it with solo home runs from Jeremy Peña, Cam Smith and Jose Altuve to trail by 1 entering the sixth inning.
AJ Blubaugh, who opened Game 1, and Peter Lambert, pitching on two days’ rest, combined to retire the next 13 batters after Brown exited. Chicago’s next baserunner came when Lambert walked Andrew Benintendi to start the sixth and then walked Tristan Peters.
Bryan Abreu came in, and Meidroth smashed his fifth pitch off the wall in left field to push the lead to 7-3. He yelled on his entire trip around the bases to the delight of a patch of White Sox fans seated near the visitor’s dugout.
“I was looking for something middle up,” Meidroth said. “He’s had my number all year, really good fastball, so I got something middle up and I was able to cash in for the team. So, yeah, that was awesome.”
Houston faced boos for a second game in a row from an unusually thin crowd. It’s a second straight playoff trip where the Astros have been swept at home in the wild card after losing both games to Detroit in 2024.
Now they’ll face an uncertain future with manager Joe Espada’s contract set to expire at season’s end after general manager Dana Brown was fired last month.
“We fought back and we set our goal to win this division and we accomplished that,” Espada said. “We wanted to play deep in October. We came short on that. But just the way our guys stayed together and were able to get this far, extremely proud of our team.”
It was a disappointing series for Houston slugger and AL MVP-favorite Yordan Alvarez, who managed only a single with two strikeouts in eight at-bats in the series.
Altuve’s shot to the seats in left field in the fourth inning got the Astros within 4-3. It was the 28th postseason homer of his career, which is second in MLB history behind Manny Ramirez (29).
“We’re all sad,” Altuve said. “We wanted to go to the World Series and win it. But today is sorrow for the final day of the season.”
The Astros had a shot to take the lead before Meidroth’s homer. They loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, but Anthony Kay retired Altuve on a fly out to end the inning.
—
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Copyright 2026 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
#2
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. Antonacci LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .286 |
| B. Doyle CF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| K. Teel C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .300 |
| M. Vargas 3B | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| M. Murakami 1B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .125 |
| A. Benintendi DH | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .333 |
| L. Acuna PR-DH | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .226 |
| T. Peters CF-LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .286 |
| C. Meidroth 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | .571 |
| B. Montgomery RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| C. Montgomery SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 |
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. Pena SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .375 |
| Y. Alvarez LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .125 |
| I. Paredes DH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 |
| J. Altuve 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .250 |
| Y. Diaz C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| C. Walker 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| L. Spence CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .125 |
| C. Smith RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .286 |
| N. Allen 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .272 |
- 2B – S. Antonacci
- HR – C. Meidroth
- RBI – K. Teel, A. Benintendi, T. Peters, C. Meidroth 3 (4)
- Runners left in scoring position, 2-Out – S. Antonacci 2 (2), M. Murakami
- HR – J. Pena, J. Altuve, C. Smith
- RBI – J. Pena, J. Altuve, C. Smith
- 2-Out RBI – C. Smith
- Runners left in scoring position, 2-Out – J. Altuve 2 (2)
- SB – L. Acuna 2 (19), T. Peters
- E – L. Spence, N. Allen (6)
| PITCHERS | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. Burke | 4.0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3.42 |
| H. Brazoban | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.94 |
| A. Kay(W, 10-9) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.51 |
| J. Hicks | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
| E. Fedde | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3.78 |
| PITCHERS | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H. Brown(L, 6-5) | 0.2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3.42 |
| A. Blubaugh | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| P. Lambert | 3.0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3.91 |
| B. Abreu | 2.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2.45 |
| J. Hader | 1.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
- Pitches-Strikes – S. Burke 72-48, H. Brazoban 16-9, A. Kay 11-4, J. Hicks 21-13, E. Fedde 34-20
- Ground Balls-Fly Balls – S. Burke 1-4, A. Kay 0-1, J. Hicks 1-1, E. Fedde 1-2
- Batters Faced – S. Burke 16, H. Brazoban 3, A. Kay 3, J. Hicks 6, E. Fedde 7
- Pitches-Strikes – H. Brown 36-22, A. Blubaugh 15-11, P. Lambert 48-28, B. Abreu 44-28, J. Hader 22-16
- Ground Balls-Fly Balls – H. Brown 2-1, A. Blubaugh 1-1, P. Lambert 4-2, B. Abreu 1-1, J. Hader 1-3
- Batters Faced – H. Brown 9, A. Blubaugh 4, P. Lambert 11, B. Abreu 10, J. Hader 6
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.