Astros Host White Sox
Astros and White Sox open American League Wild-Card series Tuesday in Houston
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The Houston Astros will host the Chicago White Sox at Daikin Park in a best-of-three American League Wild Card series opening Tuesday. Houston reached the postseason as AL West champions despite an 81-81 record, while Chicago finished 84-78 and returned to the playoffs after several difficult seasons. The Astros won five of the teams’ seven regular-season meetings, including three of the last four. Chicago will need to contain Yordan Alvarez, who led the majors in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, as it looks to carry its late-season momentum into the series. The matchup renews a postseason meeting from 2021, when Houston eliminated Chicago in the Division Series.
Key Points
1
Houston was the only postseason team with a negative regular-season run differential, having been outscored by 32 runs despite winning the AL West.
2
Chicago’s lineup features several new faces, including Miguel Vargas, who hit 33 home runs and stole 22 bases, and Munetaka Murakami, who hit 35 home runs and posted an .826 OPS.
3
White Sox manager Will Venable said Chicago understood Houston’s challenge, citing the Astros’ lineup, Alvarez and their strong pitching, but said the team was excited for the matchup.
4
Houston’s postseason return followed a year out of the playoffs, ending an eight-year streak of postseason appearances.
5
The winner of the Houston–Chicago series will face the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Division Series; Cleveland and top-seeded Tampa Bay received first-round byes.
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