Good things are happening for the White Sox. Recently, Pope Leo XIV was asked if he had anything to do with the team’s turnaround. The Pope declined to comment before saying, “Good things happen in Chicago,” and he is absolutely correct. The White Sox secured a spot in the ALDS with a 7-3 victory over the Astros.
Astros starter Hunter Brown, 28, was terrific against the White Sox in the regular season. The South Siders could not solve him, as they posted a measly .174/.208/.174 in two games against him.
The Astros won both games against the White Sox that Brown started. However, it was an entirely different story for Brown today.
Sam Antonacci, the game’s first batter, drove a fly ball to deep left. Left fielder Yordan Alvarez appeared to have a play, but he narrowly missed Antonacci’s drive, so Antonacci pulled up at second with a leadoff double. Just like in Game 1, Antonacci’s successful plate appearance to open the game set the tone for a great start for the White Sox. From there, Kyle Teel went after the first pitch he saw from Brown, and he hit a sharp grounder into center field to drive in Antonacci. Five pitches and two batters into the game, the White Sox had a 1-0 lead, and they were not done. Miguel Vargas hit a high chopper to third, but third baseman Nick Allen failed to field the grounder cleanly, allowing Teel to advance to second, and Vargas was safe at first.
Munetaka Murakami struck out, but Andrew Benintendi added some insurance. Benintendi hit a soft liner that landed in front of center fielder Lucas Spence to drive in Teel. In addition, an errant throw by Spence allowed Vargas to score, and Benintendi advanced to second. From there, Tristan Peters singled to drive in Benintendi to add an exclamation point to the huge inning. Just like that, the White Sox had an early 4-0 lead.
The nightmarish inning was not quite over just yet for Brown, whose pitch count continued to rise. Chase Meidroth singled, Braden Montgomery struck out, and Colson Montgomery displayed a good batting eye by drawing a six-pitch walk. That walk resulted in the bases being loaded, and Brown’s outing was over after 36 pitches and only retiring two batters.
From there, Astros reliever AJ Blubaugh took over with the bases loaded and two outs, looking to prevent the game from getting completely out of hand, and he did that. Antonacci, who was batting for the second time in the first inning, hit a soft ground out on a sweeper in the middle of the zone. Despite that, the White Sox happily switched sides with a 4-0 lead.
White Sox starter Sean Burke, 26, had a rough start to his outing, as shortstop Jeremy Peña crushed a moonshot to left-center to lead off the bottom of the first. However, Burke did not let Peña’s blast carry over, and he did not allow any further damage that inning.
The Astros went back to work in the second, when Cam Smith got all of a sinker on the inner half and drove it way out to left. Smith’s blast went 440 feet, but fortunately, it only counted for one run, and the White Sox still had a 4-2 lead. Burke got through the third inning cleanly, as he struck out the side in order. That was a particularly difficult task, as Peña, Alvarez, and Paredes are quite tough to strike out consecutively.
Meanwhile, the White Sox offense stalled, as they were retired in order in each of the second, third, and fourth innings. That gap in offense caused some uneasiness for White Sox fans, and that restlessness grew in the bottom of the fourth, when José Altuve led off with Houston’s third solo blast against Burke. Suddenly, the Astros were within a run, and they had all kinds of momentum.
The Astros pitching staff completed its fourth consecutive perfect inning in the fifth, and they appeared to be in business. The Astros built on their momentum in the bottom of the fifth, when interestingly, Huascar Brazobán took over on the mound to begin the frame. Brazobán hit Smith with a fastball to open the inning, but he struck out Allen to cool things down. However, Brazobán allowed a single to Peña, and suddenly, the Astros had two on with one out, and Alvarez stepped up to the plate. That prompted a pitching change, and Anthony Kay replaced Brazobán. Alvarez hit a sharp liner to left, but he did not get all of it, and Antonacci made the catch in deep left. Kay issued a walk to Paredes to load the bases, so the tying run was at third, and the go-ahead run was at second. In a crucial, high-leverage moment, Kay got Altuve to fly out to right to end the threat and preserve the 4-3 lead.
Entering the sixth, the previous 13 White Sox hitters had been retired. At long last, Andrew Benintendi broke that streak by drawing a leadoff walk against Astros reliever Bryan Abreu. Luisangel Acuña entered the game as a pinch-runner and immediately stole second base. From there, Tristan Peters walked, and the White Sox were setting themselves up to do some damage. Chase Meidroth stepped up to the plate and showed bunt. That drew the infield in, and the Astros were caught off-guard as Acuña and Peters executed a double-steal, and the South Siders had a pair in scoring position. Abreu fell behind 3-1 before leaving a slider over the middle of the plate, and Meidroth took full advantage. Meidroth’s towering blast extended the South Siders’ lead back to four, and the victory was within reach.
Reliever Jordan Hicks was phenomenal, retiring all six batters he faced and striking out three of them. As a result, the score remained 7-3 after seven. From there, Erick Fedde took over on the mound, and he locked it down. Like Hicks, he faced six batters and retired all of them, striking out three.
With this victory, the White Sox have won their first postseason series since 2005. Back in Spring Training, did any of us imagine we would be in this position at the end of September? I certainly did not, but here we are, and I am incredibly grateful. The White Sox will take on the Guardians (85-77), and that best-of-five series is scheduled to begin on Saturday at noon CT. TBS/HBO Max and TruTV will televise that matchup, and WMVP 1000 AM will have the radio coverage. We will see you then.
MVP
Chase Meidroth (2B): 2-for-3, HR, 3 RBI, BB, 0.12 WPA
Runners-Up
Kyle Teel (C): 2-for-5, RBI, 0.03 WPA
Sam Antonacci (LF): 1-for-4, 2B, 0.02 WPA
Jordan Hicks (RHRP): 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 0.07 WPA
Erick Fedde (RHRP): 2, IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 0.04 WPA
Tristan Peters (CF-LF): 1-for-3, BB, RBI, 0.07 WPA
Andrew Benintendi (DH): 1-for-2, BB, RBI, 0.17 WPA
Anthony Kay (LHRP): 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 0.13 WPA
Cold Cat
Munetaka Murakami (1B): 0-for-5, 3 K, -0.07 WPA
Runners-Up
Miguel Vargas (3B): 0-for-5, 2 K, 0.02 WPA
Sean Burke (RHSP): 4 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 8 K, -0.06 WPA
Braden Montgomery (RF): 0-for-4, K, -0.05 WPA
