The Houston Astros lost the Chicago White Sox 7-3 on Wednesday afternoon inside Daikin Park in the American League Wild Card Series. With the loss, the Astros are eliminated, dropping the series 2-0.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Astros started Hunter Brown, their ace, in a do-or-die situation. Brown, however, had as bad an outing as you could have imagined. He would allow five hits and four runs while the Astros’ defense made two errors behind him. After recording just two outs, Brown was pulled for yesterday’s starter, AJ Blubaugh. Chicago led 4-0 at that point.
The White Sox went with Sean Burke, who had to sit through that long top of the first. He promptly gave up a leadoff home run to Jeremy Pena, cutting the Chicago lead to 4-1.
The Houston offense would chip away throughout the early frames. A solo home run by Cam Smith made it 4-2, and then Jose Altuve hit one of his own to make it 4-3.
Despite the momentum, the Astros never fully climbed out of the early hole. They had the bases loaded with Altuve up, but could not capitalize.
In the sixth, the White Sox extended the lead. Chase Meidroth launched a three-run shot off of Bryan Abreu, making it a 7-3 lead.
The Astros’ offense was unable to put anything together in the late stages. The White Sox held on and swept the series.
BIG NUMBER: 28
The home run for Altuve was the 28th Postseason long ball of his career. That now ranks him second all-time, trailing Manny Ramirez by just one.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Chase Meidroth
Despite Houston’s comeback attempt, Meidroth put together the biggest at bat of the game. His three run shot extended the lead and gave Chicago the breathing room they needed.
UP NEXT: The Astros begin the offseason. They will return in 2027 to ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles!