White Sox sweep aside Astros to end 21-year wait for playoff series win

Chase Meidroth celebrates after hitting a three-run homer in the sixth inning of the White Sox’s 7-3 win over the Astros on Wednesday in Houston. Photograph: Karen Warren/APView image in fullscreenChase Meidroth celebrates after hitting a three-run homer in the sixth inning of the White Sox’s 7-3 win over the Astros on Wednesday in Houston. Photograph: Karen Warren/APWhite Sox sweep aside Astros to end 21-year wait for playoff series winMeidroth’s three-run homer powers Chicago to 7-3 win

White Sox win first playoff series since 2005 title

Chicago advance to face Cleveland in AL Division Series

The Chicago White Sox used a big first inning and a three-run homer from Chase Meidroth to propel them to a 7-3 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday and sweep their AL Wild Card Series.

It’s the first time Chicago has won a playoff series since beating Houston in the World Series in 2005. Under the direction of second-year skipper Will Venable and with a letter of support from Pope Leo XIV, the White Sox advanced to face AL Central champion Cleveland in the AL Division Series beginning Saturday in Cleveland.

The White Sox, who lost 100 games in each of the last three seasons, are the only team in major league history to follow consecutive 100-loss seasons with a playoff berth.

The AL West-winning Astros went 81-81 to become the first team to reach the postseason without a winning record. Their recent playoff woes in Houston continued Wednesday as they dropped their ninth straight home playoff game in a ninth trip to the postseason in the last 10 years.

Chicago pounced on the Astros for four runs in the first inning, a day after scoring three in the first two innings of a 6-3 win. Houston ace Hunter Brown was lifted after getting just two outs and wasn’t helped by a sloppy defense that committed two first-inning errors.

He was 6-0 with a 2.39 ERA in six career starts against the White Sox before Wednesday’s debacle.

The Astros clawed their way back into it with solo home runs from Jeremy Peña, Cam Smith and Jose Altuve to trail by one entering the sixth inning.

AJ Blubaugh, who opened Game 1, and Peter Lambert, pitching on two days’ rest, combined to retire the next 13 batters after Brown exited. Chicago’s next baserunner came when Lambert walked Andrew Benintendi to start the sixth and then walked Tristan Peters.

Bryan Abreu came in, and Meidroth smashed his fifth pitch off the wall in left field to push the lead to 7-3. He yelled throughout his trip around the bases to the delight of a patch of White Sox fans seated near the visitors’ dugout.

Houston faced boos for a second game in a row from an unusually thin crowd. It’s a second straight playoff trip in which the Astros have been swept at home in the wild-card round after losing both games to Detroit in 2024.

Now they’ll face an uncertain future, with manager Joe Espada’s contract set to expire at season’s end after general manager Dana Brown was fired last month.

It was a disappointing series for Houston slugger and AL MVP favorite Yordan Alvarez, who managed only a single with two strikeouts in eight at-bats in the series.

Altuve’s shot to the seats in left field in the fourth inning got the Astros within 4-3. It was the 28th postseason homer of his career, second in MLB history behind Manny Ramirez (29).

The Astros had a shot to take the lead before Meidroth’s homer. They loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, but Anthony Kay retired Altuve on a flyout to end the inning.