The White Sox didn’t just finish off the Astros on Wednesday. They made sure the rest of the postseason has to take them seriously.
With a 7-3 win at Daikin Park, Chicago completed a two-game sweep of Houston in the American League Wild Card Series and punched its ticket to the AL Division Series. It was the White Sox’s first playoff series victory since 2005, when they swept the Astros in four straight in the World Series at the same ballpark, then called something else.
This run has already given the White Sox plenty of headlines, but the win in Houston pushed the story further. They’re not just the young club that climbed out of three straight 100-plus loss seasons and into October. They looked like a team that can keep going.
And now the road leads to Cleveland, where the AL Central race comes back into focus. The White Sox won the season series 7-6, but the Guardians finished a game ahead to take the division and home-field advantage.
Cleveland will bring better starting pitching and one of the game’s top closers in Cade Smith. Chicago, though, arrives after looking flat-out dominant in the Wild Card Series.
The tone was set immediately. For the second straight game, the White Sox jumped on Houston in the first inning, and again the Astros helped open the door with shaky defense. Hunter Brown, who had gone 6-0 with a 2.39 ERA in six career starts against Chicago entering Wednesday, was hit for four runs right away.
Sam Antonacci started it with a double to left on a line drive that Yordan Alvarez appeared to have a chance at but didn’t come up with. Kyle Teel followed with an RBI single, then Miguel Vargas reached when Nick Allen made a throwing error at third.
Andrew Benintendi added another RBI single, and when Lucas Spence made an ill-advised throw home that got away from Yainer Diaz, Vargas scored again. Tristan Peters finished the burst with an RBI single.
Houston did not go quietly. Jeremy Peña, Cam Smith and Jose Altuve each homered off Sean Burke, who struck out eight over four innings, to keep the Astros within reach. But the White Sox handled the game’s biggest swing in the fifth.
With runners on first and second and one out, Anthony Kay came in for what was described as his first real relief appearance this season. He fell behind Yordan Alvarez 3-0, then got a pitch in the zone taken before inducing a flyout to Antonacci on the next pitch. Isaac Paredes walked to load the bases, but Altuve flied out to right to end the threat.
Chicago put the game away in the sixth. Chase Meidroth launched a long home run, then let the celebration and victory yell do the rest of the talking. The White Sox added three more runs in that inning, and any Houston comeback hope was gone.
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