Houston became the first team to reach the playoffs without a winning record, and then confirmed why that was a bad idea.
The Chicago White Sox finished a two-game sweep with a 7-3 win at Daikin Park on Wednesday. The Astros finished 81-81 and went home having won nothing in October for a third consecutive postseason appearance.
The First Inning Decided It
Chicago scored four runs in the opening frame. Hunter Brown recorded two outs, faced nine batters, allowed four runs and threw 36 pitches before he was done.
Chase Meidroth put it away with a three-run homer in the sixth. Meidroth and Kyle Teel drove in four runs between them, and both came to Chicago in the Garrett Crochet trade. That deal is now paying off in the postseason while Crochet gave up four runs without recording an out for Boston in the other league.
Houston Hit Three Homers and Lost by Four
Jeremy Pena, Cam Smith and Jose Altuve all homered, all solo. Solo home runs are how teams lose games they feel they should have won.
Altuve’s shot in the fourth was the 28th postseason home run of his career, second all-time behind Manny Ramirez’s 29. He is still doing that at this stage of his career, and it was worth one run.
Yordan Alvarez was the bigger problem: one single in eight at-bats with two strikeouts across the series. Houston does not score without him.
Espada’s Situation Is Precarious
Joe Espada, 51, is 256-229 over three seasons with two division titles and no playoff series wins. His contract expires after this season. General manager Dana Brown was fired in August.
Owner Jim Crane called the playoff berth “something to consider,” which is the kind of phrase an owner uses when he has not decided yet. Ken Rosenthal reported that Crane “won’t think about (changing managers) much longer.”
No decision has been announced.
The Case for Keeping Him
Two division titles in three years is a real accomplishment, and 81-81 with this roster was arguably overachievement. Houston’s core aged, the farm thinned out, and the front office that built the dynasty is gone.
The case against is simpler. Three postseason trips, zero series wins, and a second home sweep in a Wild Card round in three years. Houston was swept at home by Detroit in 2024 and has now done it again.
Chicago Gets Cleveland
The White Sox face the Guardians in the ALDS, the first postseason meeting ever between the two division rivals. Game 1 is Saturday at 1 p.m. ET in Cleveland, with Game 2 Monday, and games three and four in Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday.
Chicago’s seeding has been reported inconsistently, with MLB.com listing the White Sox sixth and CBS listing them third. The pitching lines from Game 2 have not been published in detail.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.