Chicago White Sox at Houston Astros

· ALWC - Game 1

Chicago White Sox

84-78, 36-45 Away

Final
6 - 3

Houston Astros

81-81, 39-42 Home

White Sox strike first in AL wild card, beating Astros 6-3 in Game 1

Colson Montgomery crushes a 432-foot home run for the White Sox

The White Sox, in the postseason for the first time since 2021, made a remarkable turnaround this year to become the only team in major league history to follow consecutive 100-loss seasons with a playoff berth. They had lost 100 games three straight seasons, including 121 defeats in 2024, setting the record for most losses since 1899.

The White Sox got a letter of support from Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native, prior to the game and got to work immediately to show off for the pontiff.

They led 3-0 after two innings and held on for their first playoff win since Oct. 10, 2021 in the ALDS against Houston.

The AL West-winning Astros eked into the playoffs with an 81-81 record to become the first team to reach the postseason without a winning record. Houston lost its eighth straight home playoff game in its ninth trip to the postseason in the last 10 years.

Game 2 in the best-of-three series is Wednesday in Houston.

Houston had runners on first and third with two outs in the eighth after singles by Jeremy Peña and MVP-favorite Yordan Alvarez when Jose Altuve reached and Peña scored on an error by third baseman Miguel Vargas to cut the lead to 6-3.

The Astros' tough day came in front of a surprisingly thin crowd. The announced attendance was 34,011 in a park with a capacity of 40,963. The home fans peppered the team with some boos when it fell behind early.

Both teams went with a bullpen game and combined to use 13 pitchers. Chicago opened with rookie left-hander Hagen Smith, and he allowed two hits in three scoreless innings.

Houston’s rookie opener AJ Blubaugh gave up two walks, and an error by Christian Walker left runners on first and third with one out in the first. The White Sox took an early lead on a sacrifice fly by Murakami.

Bryan King plunked Montgomery to load the bases with no outs in the second before Antonacci’s single pushed the lead to 3-0.

Montgomery, who manager Will Venable dropped to ninth in the order Tuesday, opened the fourth with a 432-foot homer to straightaway center field to make it 4-0. He hit 31 home runs in the regular season but also set the single-season record with 227 strikeouts.

Chicago made it 5-0 on a bases-loaded RBI single by Chase Meidroth with one out in the fifth.

Pinch-hitter Nelson Velázquez hit a two-run homer to cut the lead to 5-2 with two outs in the fifth.

The White Sox tacked on another run on a wild pitch by Bennett Sousa in the seventh.

Up next Houston RHP Hunter Brown (6-4, 3.19 ERA) will start Game 2. The White Sox haven’t named a starter.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

How can I watch Chicago White Sox vs. Houston Astros?

TV Channel: White Sox at Astros 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on Peacock.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Velázquez grounded out to third.
	9th Inning	Walker to second on fielder's indifference.
	9th Inning	Smith struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Spence struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Walker walked.
	9th Inning	Acuña as designated hitter.

Statistics

CHW		HOU
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
2	Hit By Pitch	0
13	Ground Balls	17
8	Strikeouts	7
5	Runs Batted In	2
1	Sacrifice Hit	1
11	Hits	6
0	Stolen Bases	0
4	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
6	Runs	3
3	Ground Into Double Play	0
1	Sacrifice Flies	0
34	At Bats	33
1	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
20	Runners Left On Base	14
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
0	Doubles	0
15	Fly Balls	10
0	Caught Stealing	0
155	Pitches	150
0	Games Started	0
1	Pinch At Bats	1
0	Pinch Hits	1
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
14	Total Bases	9
42	Plate Appearances	36
162.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
1	Extra Base Hits	1
5.4	Runs Created	1.9
.324	Batting Average	.182
.000	Pinch Hit Average	1.000
.412	Slugging Percentage	.273
.206	Secondary Average	.152
.415	On Base Percentage	.229
.826	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.501
0.9	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	1.7
5.2	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	1.9
36.0	Batter Rating	19.0
34.0	At Bats Per Home Run	33.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.69	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.17
.088	Isolated Power	.091
0.50	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.29
.095	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.056
-.118	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.030
11.0	Runs Produced	5.0
0.8	Runs Ratio	0.7
0.5	Patience Ratio	0.3
0.4	Balls In Play Average	0.2
89.3	MLB Rating	71.3
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0