White Sox beat Astros 6-3 to open AL wild card series

How it went

Houston's bullpen game got shaky early. Rookie opener AJ Blubaugh walked two batters, and a first-inning error by Christian Walker left runners on first and third with one out. Chicago cashed that in with a sacrifice fly from Murakami for an early lead. In the second, Bryan King hit Colson Montgomery with a pitch to load the bases, and Sam Antonacci followed with a single that pushed the lead to 3-0.

Montgomery, dropped to ninth in the order by manager Will Venable, opened the fourth with a 432-foot homer to center field that made it 4-0. Chase Meidroth added a bases-loaded RBI single in the fifth for a 5-0 lead, and pinch-hitter Nelson Velázquez later hit a two-run homer to trim it. Chicago's Hagen Smith opened the game with three scoreless innings, and the two clubs combined to use 13 pitchers.

Houston chipped away late. In the eighth, Jeremy Peña and Yordan Alvarez both singled, Jose Altuve reached base, and Peña scored on an error by third baseman Miguel Vargas, cutting the deficit to 6-3. That is where the score stayed.

A team that has not seen October since 2021

This was Chicago's first playoff appearance since 2021 and its first playoff win since Oct. 10, 2021, when the White Sox beat these same Astros in the ALDS. Getting here took an unusual path. The White Sox lost 100 games in three straight seasons, including 121 losses in 2024, the most losses in a season since 1899. No team in major league history had followed three straight 100-loss years with a playoff berth until this one.

Before the game, the club received a letter of support from Pope Leo XIV, who is from Chicago. The White Sox led 3-0 after two innings.

Houston's rough stretch continues

The Astros won the AL West but got into the playoffs at 81-81, the first team in major league history to reach the postseason without a winning record. This is Houston's ninth trip to the postseason in the last 10 years, but the home playoff struggles continued. The loss was Houston's eighth straight home playoff defeat.

The announced crowd was 34,011 in a ballpark that holds 40,963, and the fans who did show up booed when the team fell behind early.

Who was missing

Houston went into the series without Mike Burrows (right elbow inflammation, 60-day IL), Steven Okert (right hamstring strain, 15-day IL) and Daulton Varsho (left wrist inflammation, 10-day IL), while Ethan Pecko was day-to-day with left hip soreness.

Chicago was already missing Prelander Berroa (right elbow surgery, 60-day IL) and Joey Bart (left hand fracture, 10-day IL), and catcher Jake Rogers was away on paternity leave. Game 2 of the best-of-three series is Wednesday, back in Houston.

Facts per ESPN box score. Opinion is the taproom's.