The White Sox got the exact start they wanted in Game 1, and Hagen Smith was the one who delivered it.
The rookie opened the wild-card series at Houston on Tuesday and worked three scoreless innings in Chicago’s 6-3 win. Smith allowed two hits, struck out one and handed the game off after giving the White Sox a clean foundation in a bullpen game.
Chicago had already grabbed the lead before Smith ever stepped on the mound. Sam Antonacci drew a leadoff walk and eventually came around on a Munetaka Murakami sacrifice fly.
In the second, Antonacci came through again, this time with a single that brought in Braden Montgomery and Chase Meidroth. Then Colson Montgomery added a home run to push the margin to 4-0.
Smith was the choice to open after a regular season in which he went 3-3 with a 1.29 ERA, a 0.964 WHIP and 41 strikeouts across 28 innings. He made one start during the 2026 season.
His other opening assignment came Sept. 10 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, when he threw 2.0 innings, allowed two hits and struck out three in a 2-0 White Sox loss. Across the year, Smith was used in the fifth inning or later in 15 of his 18 regular-season appearances and finished one game.
He did his job on Tuesday, and the White Sox kept rolling behind him. Jordan Hicks followed by retiring all three hitters he faced. In the fifth, a Chase Meidroth infield single scored Murakami to make it 5-0, though Houston finally answered when Sean Newcombe gave up a two-run homer to pinch hitter Nelson Velazquez.
Chicago then turned to David Sandlin, who got four of the five batters he faced and issued one walk. Grant Taylor finished it out, working 2.1 innings with two hits, an unearned run, a walk and five strikeouts. Taylor had some shaky moments, but he closed the door and secured the win.
Both clubs leaned on their bullpens in this one, with the White Sox using five pitchers and Houston using eight. Game 2 brings a different setup, with Sean Burke starting for Chicago and Hunter Brown going for the Astros as both teams send out their aces. The bullpens will be a major storyline again.
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Bennett Sousa was frustrated by the boos from the home crowd after his outing, and Christian Walker also pointed to the negative effect of the reaction. For a team trying to steady itself in an elimination spot, the atmosphere around the dugout has become part of the challenge, and the Astros have to find a way to block it out before the series slips away. [Read more 🡒]