The Astros came all the way back to win the AL West on the final day of the regular season, then watched their season disappear almost as fast.
Houston became the first team out of the 2026 postseason on Wednesday night, falling 7-3 to the White Sox at Daikin Park as Chicago completed a sweep of the best-of-three American League Wild Card Series. The knockout came after the Astros had rallied from a rough start, only to get buried again by one big swing.
Chase Meidroth delivered the back-breaker in the sixth, launching a three-run homer off Bryan Abreu to blow the game open and send the White Sox through. It was the kind of swing that made Houston’s earlier comeback feel temporary.
The Astros had already dug a hole in the first when Hunter Brown couldn’t get out of the inning. He faced nine hitters, allowed four runs, five hits and a walk, and was undone in part by shaky defense behind him. Houston committed two errors, and Yordan Alvarez couldn’t corral what looked like a catchable fly ball in left field.
Brown needed 16 pitches just to get his first out, then 30 to record two. By the time he was pulled after 36 pitches, the bases were loaded and Houston trailed 4-0. AJ Blubaugh, who started Game 1, came in and got Sam Antonacci to ground out, giving the Astros a sliver of life.
That’s when Houston’s power started to show up.
Jeremy Peña opened the comeback with a leadoff homer in the first. Cam Smith followed with a Statcast-projected 440-foot shot in the second.
Then Jose Altuve added a solo blast in the fourth, his 28th career postseason homer, moving him within one of Manny Ramirez for the all-time lead. Just like that, the Astros were back within 4-3.
Peter Lambert then gave Houston three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, and the Astros had another chance in the fifth. Anthony Kay entered and got Alvarez to line out with runners on first and second. After Kay walked Isaac Paredes to load the bases, he got Altuve to fly out to right to end the threat.
That miss mattered. In the sixth, Lambert walked the first two hitters he faced before leaving after 48 pitches, and Meidroth punished the next mistake, hammering Abreu’s slider into a three-run homer that put Chicago ahead for good.
The defeat was Houston’s ninth straight home postseason loss and its second sweep in the AL Wild Card Series in three years, after Detroit did it in 2024. It also closed the book on a 2026 season that featured early injuries, a 20-31 start and an 81-81 finish, yet still ended with the Astros reaching the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 seasons. The year also included the August departure of general manager Dana Brown.
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