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White Sox beat the Astros 6-3 in wild-card Game 1
Houston, TexasPublished 1 Oct 2026
Chicago scored the first five runs at Daikin Park, with Sam Antonacci's two-run single and Colson Montgomery's homer, for its first playoff win since 2021.
On Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, the Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros 6-3 in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series at Daikin Park. Both clubs used a bullpen game. Chicago led 5-0 before Houston scored, and the White Sox took a 1-0 series lead in their first playoff win since 2021.
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White Sox Strike First in AL Wild Card, Beating Astros 6-3 in Game 1
Published 29 Sep 2026 accessed 30 Sep 2026
Facts
The White Sox are the only team to follow consecutive 100-loss seasons with a playoff berth.
The win was the White Sox' first playoff win since Oct. 10, 2021, in the ALDS against Houston.
The White Sox lost 121 games in 2024, the most since 1899.
Will Venable said the White Sox came to win the series and that the first win is the first part of that.
The Astros reached the postseason at 81-81, the first team to do so without a winning record.
Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native, sent the White Sox a letter of support before the game.
Houston lost its eighth straight home playoff game.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series is Wednesday in Houston.
This is Houston's ninth postseason trip in the last 10 years.
Yordan Alvarez said the Astros have to win tomorrow or there is no tomorrow after that.
Yordan Alvarez said the Astros are ready for the challenge.
Yordan Alvarez spoke in Spanish through a translator.
The teams combined to use 13 pitchers.
Opinion
Will Venable said his young players had not been in this situation and did not back down.
Will Venable said he was impressed with his young team's poise.
The Associated Press called the White Sox' turnaround remarkable.
Joe Espada said he is confident the Astros will respond Wednesday and force a Game 3.
Will Venable said it was really good to come out and get an early win.
The Associated Press said the White Sox got to work to show off for the pontiff.
Joe Espada said he admires how the Astros bounce back and react to challenges.
Joe Espada said he expects the Astros to bounce back and the offense to get going.
The Associated Press called it a tough day in front of a surprisingly thin crowd.
Joe Espada said using two pitchers so early made the game hard to piece together.
5 key moments from Astros
Published 29 Sep 2026 accessed 30 Sep 2026
Facts
Bryan King gave up consecutive singles.
Bryan King was demoted to Triple-A.
Grant Taylor struck out Isaac Paredes.
The White Sox had a runner on third with one out.
The tying run was at the plate.
The call stood after the White Sox challenged.
Bennett Sousa allowed two singles to start the inning.
A sacrifice moved the runners to second and third.
Bennett Sousa threw another wild pitch, and Braden Montgomery reached after striking out.
Opinion
The Houston Chronicle called Bryan King's second inning a disaster.
The Houston Chronicle said using Bryan King in a playoff game was a risky call that went bad quickly.
The Houston Chronicle said the early hole proved too big to overcome.
The Houston Chronicle said Bryan King had struggled mightily since the All-Star break.
The Houston Chronicle called the eighth the Astros' last gasp to get back into the game.
The Houston Chronicle said it was atypical for Yainer Diaz, a free swinger, to take a called third strike.
The Houston Chronicle said Colson Montgomery was slumping at the end of the regular season.
The Houston Chronicle called Miguel Ullola's two innings electric.
The Houston Chronicle called the homer a body blow and said Houston needed to keep the deficit manageable.
The Houston Chronicle said things went awry when Bennett Sousa entered.
The Houston Chronicle said the homer gave the ballpark some life.
The Houston Chronicle said the run Houston gave back in the seventh blunted its momentum.
The Houston Chronicle said playoff baseball has more pressurized moments from start to finish than any other sport.
White Sox top Astros in Game 1; first playoff win in 5 years
Published 29 Sep 2026 accessed 30 Sep 2026
Facts
Five White Sox pitchers held down the Astros' offense.
Chicago took a lead it never gave back.
It was only Hagen Smith's second outing that long since his August promotion from the minors.
Hagen Smith, developed as a starter, was moved to relief for the stretch run.
Chicago's offense had four walks, two hit batters, and five opposite-field hits.
The White Sox hit the fifth-most home runs in baseball during the regular season.
Colson Montgomery hit .197.
An error led to an unearned run.
Houston has less than 24 hours before the next game.
The Astros returned to the postseason after a one-year absence.
Colson Montgomery said he did not really know what he was doing on the first two pitches.
It was the first postseason appearance of Grant Taylor's career.
Joe Espada said he does not need to tell the Astros, because they know.
Houston did not overtax closer Josh Hader or setup man Bryan Abreu on Tuesday.
Will Venable's staff is piecing together a Game 2 pitching plan, as it has all season.
Sam Antonacci said he had a front-row seat.
Opinion
ESPN said even playoff moments are not too big for this White Sox team.
Grant Taylor said nobody believed the White Sox would do anything special, and now they are in the postseason.
ESPN said you could hardly blame the White Sox if they came out overexcited.
ESPN said the White Sox seem to revel in an underdog role.
Grant Taylor said the White Sox can use the underdog label to their advantage.
ESPN said the White Sox looked right at home from the start.
ESPN said this was not the attack you would expect from a young team chasing a playoff splash.
ESPN called Colson Montgomery a struggling shortstop.
ESPN called the Astros' showing lackluster.
ESPN said the rest of Montgomery's season made Tuesday's homer sweeter.
Colson Montgomery said the homer felt good.
ESPN said Astros pitchers struggled with command.
ESPN said the Astros' offense did not do much besides that homer.
ESPN called the Daikin Park crowd unusually antsy.
ESPN said that return will be short if Houston does not clean it up.
Sam Antonacci said Grant Taylor's stuff was electric.
Sam Antonacci said everyone has the utmost confidence when Grant Taylor has the ball.
ESPN said Grant Taylor iced the game.
ESPN said Grant Taylor looked like he belonged.
ESPN said Sam Antonacci has typified a "why not us?" attitude all season.
Sam Antonacci said that even with 10 years in the postseason it would be the same game.
Sam Antonacci said it felt like a normal day at the office.
ESPN called Montgomery's homer one characteristic blast.
ESPN said Daikin Park has seen some of baseball's most dramatic postseason games over the past decade.
ESPN called the White Sox upstarts.
ESPN asked whether the next game is too much for the White Sox.
ESPN asked who needs postseason experience.
White Sox only stumble in Game 1? It might have been staged
Published 30 Sep 2026 accessed 30 Sep 2026
Facts
Another win Wednesday or Thursday would be the White Sox' first playoff series victory since they swept the Astros in the 2005 World Series.
Sam Antonacci tripped while running out of the dugout during pregame introductions.
A win in the next two days would send the White Sox to Cleveland for a best-of-five AL Division Series.
Sam Antonacci said the White Sox are taking the series as if they are 0-0.
The Guardians won the AL Central by one game.
The White Sox won the season series against the Guardians, 7-6.
Teams that take a 1-0 lead in a best-of-three wild-card series have won 21 of 24 times, including 17 sweeps.
Visiting teams that led 1-0 have won 12 of 15 wild-card series, including nine sweeps.
Houston used its main starters against the A's over the weekend to win the AL West.
The last home team to rally after losing Game 1 was the Yankees, against the Red Sox last year.
Yordan Alvarez is 4-for-23 with one extra-base hit against the White Sox this season.
Sam Antonacci said the White Sox are trying to win each pitch, then each inning, then the game.
Hagen Smith struck out one and, according to Statcast, got seven swings and misses.
AJ Blubaugh threw 13 of 27 pitches for strikes.
Kyle Teel said Hagen Smith was attacking the zone.
Those pitchers combined to allow one unearned run.
Hagen Smith said he trusted Kyle Teel behind the plate.
Hagen Smith said he was attacking with everything.
Colson Montgomery had talked about using the playoffs as a reset.
Sam Antonacci scored the game's first run.
Grant Taylor struck out five.
Colson Montgomery said he felt on time and was more committed on the last pitch.
Braden Montgomery and Chase Meidroth each had two hits and scored a run.
Four pitchers followed Hagen Smith.
Sam Antonacci was hit by a pitch in the sixth.
Sam Antonacci set the White Sox' single-season mark with 27 hit-by-pitches in 2026.
Sam Antonacci later claimed the stumble was staged.
Sam Antonacci said he may have been Spider-Man.
Grant Taylor said that is the word on the street about the stumble.
Opinion
MLB.com said the stumble was pretty much Chicago's only misstep.
Sam Antonacci said a lot can happen and the Astros have really good arms.
Kyle Teel said the White Sox cannot think about the end of tomorrow's game.
MLB.com said the White Sox are not going to get ahead of themselves.
MLB.com said the strategy worked much better for the White Sox.
Hagen Smith said Kyle Teel did a great job game-planning.
Kyle Teel said Hagen Smith was really, really good.
Kyle Teel said you could tell Hagen Smith wanted the ball.
MLB.com said the reset was real.
MLB.com said the White Sox have had plenty of fun winning this season, sometimes to excess.
Grant Taylor said the stumble looked a little too real.
Sam Antonacci said we will never know.
White Sox hold on for 6-3 victory over Astros in Game 1 of wild card series
Published 29 Sep 2026 accessed 30 Sep 2026
Facts
The White Sox' Game 1 bullpen game was lined up days in advance.
The Astros' pitching plan was what remained after they clinched a playoff spot on the last day of the season.
The White Sox out-hit the Astros 11-6.
Miguel Ullola struck out Munetaka Murakami and Andrew Benintendi to escape a bases-loaded jam in the second.
Josh Hendrickson was pitching for Houston in the fifth.
A Colson Montgomery double-play ball ended the fifth with no more runs.
Munetaka Murakami singled twice in the inning, the first to lead off.
A 6-2 lead is not a save situation in the regular season.
The White Sox did not lengthen the lead while Grant Taylor pitched.
Opinion
The Chicago Sun-Times said each side looked its part for most of the game.
The Chicago Sun-Times said the White Sox never let the game break open or get closer than arm's length.
The Chicago Sun-Times said Jeremy Peña and Yordan Alvarez were otherwise held in check.
The Chicago Sun-Times said Bryan King's 2026 strengths, besides being left-handed and healthy, are less clear.
The Chicago Sun-Times said White Sox left-handed hitters handled Bryan King fine.
The Chicago Sun-Times called Miguel Ullola an unexpected stabilizing force.
The Chicago Sun-Times said the homer looked like an unburdening.
The Chicago Sun-Times said the homer put the Astros back in business.
The Chicago Sun-Times said one idea was that the White Sox could add on while Grant Taylor pitched so a lesser reliever could finish.
The Chicago Sun-Times said there are no half-measures when a win is in sight in a best-of-three series.
The Chicago Sun-Times said the crowd is trained on a decade of high-quality baseball.
The Chicago Sun-Times called Josh Hendrickson another unproven Astros lefty.
The Chicago Sun-Times called those seven outs laborious.