White Sox beat Astros 6-3 in Game 1 of AL Wild Card Series at Minute Maid Park
Colson Montgomery homered and Sam Antonacci drove in two runs as the Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros 6-3 in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday night in Houston.
The White Sox led 3-0 after two innings and 5-0 by the middle of the fifth, then held off a late Houston rally for their first playoff win since October 10, 2021, also against the Astros in the ALDS.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series is Wednesday in Houston. Houston right-hander Hunter Brown, who went 6-4 with a 3.19 ERA, will start for the Astros. The White Sox had not named a starter.
Chicago opened the scoring in the first inning. Houston starter AJ Blubaugh walked two batters, and an error by first baseman Christian Walker left runners on first and third with one out. Shogo Murakami lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
In the second, Bryan King hit Montgomery to load the bases with no outs. Antonacci followed with a two-run single that chased King and pushed the lead to 3-0.
Montgomery, moved to ninth in the lineup by manager Will Venable, opened the fourth with a solo home run to straightaway center field. The shot traveled 432 feet, according to the game data, and made it 4-0.
Montgomery hit 31 home runs in the regular season but also set a single-season franchise record with 227 strikeouts.
Chicago extended the lead to 5-0 in the fifth on a bases-loaded RBI single by Chase Meidroth with one out.
Houston scored in the bottom of the inning. Pinch-hitter Nelson Velázquez hit a two-run homer with two outs, cutting the deficit to 5-2.
The White Sox added another run in the seventh when Bennett Sousa threw a wild pitch, scoring a runner from third to make it 6-2.
Houston made it 6-3 in the eighth. Jeremy Peña and Yordan Alvarez singled with two outs. Jose Altuve then reached on an error by third baseman Miguel Vargas, and Peña scored on the play.
The teams used 13 pitchers. Chicago started rookie left-hander Hagen Smith, who allowed two hits over three scoreless innings. Blubaugh, Houston's rookie opener, lasted just one inning and gave up the first run without recording an out in the second.
The game was played before an announced crowd of 34,011 at Minute Maid Park, which has a capacity of 40,963. Some fans booed the Astros after the early deficit.
The loss extended Houston's home playoff skid to eight straight games. The Astros have reached the postseason nine times in the last 10 years but entered this year's playoffs with an 81-81 record, becoming the first team in MLB history to qualify without a winning record.
Chicago, meanwhile, reached the postseason for the first time since 2021 after losing 100 games in each of the previous three seasons, including 121 in 2024. The White Sox are the first team in major league history to make the playoffs the year after back-to-back 100-loss campaigns.
Before the game, the White Sox received a letter of support from Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native.
Astros fan Randy Frick, speaking before the first pitch, said the weak division race made the team's playoff berth feel less secure. "Well, it's nice to be able to play in probably the worst division of baseball, so that at a 500 record you can actually make the payoffs," Frick said. "But hey, once you're there, you never know."
Houston must win Wednesday to force a deciding Game 3 on Thursday. A loss ends the Astros' season.
