HOUSTON - The White Sox hardly gave the Astros a chance to settle into Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday at Daikin Park, rolling to a 6-3 win that put them one victory away from their first playoff series triumph since the 2005 World Series.
The cleanest moment of the night might have come before the first pitch, when Sam Antonacci tripped running out of the dugout during pregame introductions. After that, the White Sox were the ones doing the tripping up Houston.
A win Wednesday or Thursday would send the White Sox to Cleveland for a best-of-five AL Division Series. The Guardians captured the AL Central by one game even though the White Sox won the season series, 7-6.
Tuesday was a bullpen game for both clubs, though for very different reasons. The White Sox chose that route, while the Astros were forced into it after using their top starters against the A’s to clinch the division and reach the playoffs ahead of the Rangers. The South Siders handled it far better.
Hagen Smith opened the night with three scoreless innings, giving up just two hits. He struck out one, but he kept the ball in the zone with his four-pitch mix and produced seven swings and misses, according to Statcast.
One of his biggest outs came when he got Yordan Alvarez with two outs and a runner on third to end the third inning. Alvarez, the AL Most Valuable Player favorite, is 4-for-23 with one extra-base hit against the White Sox this season.
Houston opener AJ Blubaugh never found his footing. He threw only 13 of 27 pitches for strikes, and the Astros had to use two pitchers just to survive the first inning, though they did limit the damage to one unearned run.
The White Sox kept adding from there, and Colson Montgomery supplied the biggest swing. Batting ninth for the first time this season, two days after saying he wanted the playoffs to serve as a reset after setting Major League Baseball’s single-season record with 227 strikeouts, Montgomery crushed a Statcast-projected 432-foot home run in the fourth inning off Miguel Ullola.
“I don’t care where I’m at,” Montgomery said pregame. “As long as I’m in the lineup.”
Braden Montgomery finished with two hits and a run scored, and Chase Meidroth did the same. Antonacci chipped in all over the box score: he scored the game’s first run, later singled home two, and was hit by a pitch in the sixth. He also set the single-season franchise mark with 27 in ‘26.
After Smith’s three innings, the White Sox turned it over to the bullpen. Sean Newcomb allowed Nelson Velázquez’s two-run pinch-hit homer in the fifth, David Sandlin worked 1 1/3 innings, and Grant Taylor finished the stretch.
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White Sox Taking A Game 1 Gamble Against Houston
The White Sox are leaning into a playoff wrinkle right away, opening their Wild Card Series against the Astros with a bullpen day and rookie Hagen Smith as the listed starter. It is the kind of call that says plenty about where the staff is right now: Chicago is not trying to force a traditional Game 1 look so much as it is trying to maximize the arms it has available and keep Houston from settling in early.
Manager Will Venable and general manager Chris Getz have both framed the plan as one built on flexibility, with multiple pitchers expected to work in short bursts rather than hand the ball to a starter and a bulk reliever in the usual order. The approach puts a premium on matchups and versatility, and it also sets up an early postseason test of just how far the White Sox are willing to push that style when every inning carries extra weight. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Wild Card Hopes May Hinge On One Astros Problem
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Chicagos path is made trickier by the fact that both staffs arrive with questions, but the Astros have the kind of lineup depth that can make those issues easier to survive in October. Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez bring postseason experience that could tilt a short series, which leaves the White Sox needing their own answer to one glaring Astros advantage if they want the upset to feel realistic. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Wild Card Roster Hints At A Bold Astros Plan
The White Sox have put together a Wild Card roster that says plenty about how they intend to attack the Astros, even before a first pitch is thrown. Chicagos official group leans heavily on pitching depth, with seven right-handers, five left-handers, two catchers, five infielders and seven outfielders, a structure that points to a lot of matchup management once the series begins.
Hagen Smith is set to open Game 1 in what is expected to be a bullpen game, which already gives the opener a different feel than a standard postseason start. Anthony Kay is also on the roster after recent pitching work, a detail that suggests the White Sox may be keeping another option available on short rest as they try to piece together outs against Houston. [Read more 🡒]