The Houston Astros entered the 2026 Major League Baseball playoffs as the worst team, by win-loss record, to ever reach the postseason. On Tuesday evening at Daikin Park, they played like it.
Needing a win in game 162 to reach October baseball, the Astros delivered, winning 9-0 behind a bullpen game and the 29th homer of the season from Christian Walker. On Tuesday, they tried to run that same formula back again, starting long reliever A.J. Blubaugh, backed up by Bryan King and Miguel Ullola.
Against the most powerful offense in the American League, it didn’t work. Two first inning walks for the White Sox and a throwing error from Walker preceded a sacrifice fly from Munetaka Murakami. And without the benefit of a hit, Chicago took a 1-0 lead. In the second though, the hits started coming. A Chase Meidroth single, Colson Montgomery hit by pitch put two on for Sam Antonacci, who delivered the big blow to put Chicago up 3-0.
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A solo homer from Colson Montgomery and some careless Astros pitching sandwiched around a Nelson Velazquez two-run homer extended the lead to 6-2. And the White Sox never looked back, with Grant Taylor going 2.1 innings with five strikeouts to close out the game and give Chicago the big 1-0 lead.
This outcome is a microcosm of how the Astros and White Sox have played throughout the regular season. Chicago’s lineup took advantage of a below-average Houston bullpen, and a rookie with little experience played the hero.
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Hagen Smith, who has just 28 innings of regular season big league experience under his belt, put up three scoreless innings with just two baserunners allowed. Colson Montgomery hit a solo homer to stretch the lead to four. Sam Antonacci, a surprising star at the top of the White Sox lineup, delivered again. And Munetaka Murakami scored two runs and drove in another. Suddenly, a team with the 25th highest-payroll payroll in baseball is nine innings from winning a playoff series, months before owners lock players out to push for a salary cap.
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The win marked Chicago’s first postseason victory since 2021, and cemented the organization’s remarkable turnaround from their record-setting 41-121 season in 2024. Smart, targeted free-agency signings and a strong player development staff getting the most out of a deep farm system.
For Houston, they demonstrated why they were 81-81. Capable of flashes of brilliance, but with maddening periods of inconsistency. While Tuesday was a bullpen game for both teams, Wednesday will provide a more traditional pitching matchup as they send their aces out in what’s now an elimination game for the Astros.
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Hunter Brown, who returned from injury to put up a 3.19 ERA, goes for Houston, while another surprising young player, Sean Burke, starts for Chicago. Pitching is the great equalizer in the postseason, and both teams will send out quality pitchers that can make things tough on opposing lineups.
Maybe the happiest White Sox fan out there? The Pope, who sent a letter to the organization prior to the start of the playoffs. One more win, and he can start praying to beat the Cleveland Guardians and reach the ALCS.
