In the American League Wild Card Series, the Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros 6-2 on Tuesday at Daikin Park, taking a 1-0 series lead. The White Sox capitalized on Houston's struggling bullpen, scoring early and often without needing a hit in the first inning. Key contributors for Chicago included Munetaka Murakami with two runs scored, Colson Montgomery with a solo home run, and rookie Hagen Smith who threw three scoreless innings. This victory underscores Chicago’s turnaround from their poor regular season performance to now being just nine innings away from winning a playoff series.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-30,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The Houston Astros and the Chicago White Sox, two unlikely playoff teams with remarkable turnaround stories, faced off in a best-of-three AL Wild Card Series starting on Tuesday in Houston. The Astros clinched their division title despite ending the regular season at exactly .500 (81-81), marking them as baseball’s first such division winner. In contrast, the White Sox overcame losing 100 games each of the last three seasons to secure a playoff spot.
In Game 1 on Tuesday, the White Sox took an early lead with four runs in the first inning and won 6-3 despite the Astros employing a bullpen game strategy led by AJ Blumbaugh. The announced attendance was sparse at 34,011, leading to fan frustration among the players who heard boos throughout the game.
The White Sox continued their strong performance on Wednesday, sweeping the series with a 7-3 victory in Game 2. This marked Chicago's first playoff series win since 2005 and advanced them to face the AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians in the Division Series starting Saturday in Cleveland.
Despite Houston’s playoff woes at home—dropping their ninth straight home playoff game—they expressed disappointment over fan support, with players like Bennett Sousa feeling that they needed more encouragement from their audience. Manager Will Venable of the White Sox praised his team for maintaining belief and achieving a historic turnaround to clinch this victory.
Written for “White Sox Playoff Run” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 16 other(s) covering the same event.
The Houston Astros entered the 2026 Major League Baseball playoffs as the worst team, by win-loss record, to ever reach the postseason.
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Astros → enter → postseason
On Tuesday evening at Daikin Park, they played like it.
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they → play → it
Needing a win in game 162 to reach October baseball, the Astros delivered, winning 9-0 behind a bullpen game and the 29th homer of the season from Christian Walker.
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Astros → need → Walker
On Tuesday, they tried to run that same formula back again, starting long reliever A.J. Blubaugh, backed up by Bryan King and Miguel Ullola.
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they → try → King
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page → contain → partners
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News → sign → wager
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that → create → newsroom
Against the most powerful offense in the American League, it didn't work.
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it → work → League
Two first inning walks for the White Sox and a throwing error from Walker preceded a sacrifice fly from Munetaka Murakami.
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walks → precede → Murakami
And without the benefit of a hit, Chicago took a 1-0 lead.
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Chicago → take → lead
In the second though, the hits started coming.
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hits → come → second
A Chase Meidroth single, Colson Montgomery hit by pitch put two on for Sam Antonacci, who delivered the big blow to put Chicago up 3-0.
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who → put → Chicago
A solo homer from Colson Montgomery and some careless Astros pitching sandwiched around a Nelson Velazquez two-run homer extended the lead to 6-2.
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homer → sandwich → 6
And the White Sox never looked back, with Grant Taylor going 2.1 innings with five strikeouts to close out the game and give Chicago the big 1-0 lead.
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Taylor → look → lead
This outcome is a microcosm of how the Astros and White Sox have played throughout the regular season.
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Astros → play → season
Chicago's lineup took advantage of a below-average Houston bullpen, and a rookie with little experience played the hero.
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rookie → take → hero
Hagen Smith, who has just 28 innings of regular season big league experience under his belt, put up three scoreless innings with just two baserunners allowed.
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who → have → baserunners
Colson Montgomery hit a solo homer to stretch the lead to four.
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Montgomery → hit → four
Sam Antonacci, a surprising star at the top of the White Sox lineup, delivered again.
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Antonacci → deliver → lineup
And Munetaka Murakami scored two runs and drove in another.
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Murakami → score → another
Suddenly, a team with the 25th highest-payroll payroll in baseball is nine innings from winning a playoff series, months before owners lock players out to push for a salary cap.
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owners → win → cap
The win marked Chicago's first postseason victory since 2021, and cemented the organization's remarkable turnaround from their record-setting 41-121 season in 2024.
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win → mark → 2024
For Houston, they demonstrated why they were 81-81.
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they → demonstrate → Houston
While Tuesday was a bullpen game for both teams, Wednesday will provide a more traditional pitching matchup as they send their aces out in what's now an elimination game for the Astros.
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what → provide → Astros
Hunter Brown, who returned from injury to put up a 3.19 ERA, goes for Houston, while another surprising young player, Sean Burke, starts for Chicago.
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player → return → Chicago
Pitching is the great equalizer in the postseason, and both teams will send out quality pitchers that can make things tough on opposing lineups.
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things → send → lineups
The Pope, who sent a letter to the organization prior to the start of the playoffs.
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who → send → playoffs
One more win, and he can start praying to beat the Cleveland Guardians and reach the ALCS.
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he → start → ALCS
The Aporia
