Astros' Season Ends in the Wild-Card Round as White Sox Finish the Sweep at Daikin Park
Chicago's 7-3 win in Game 2 — its first postseason series victory since 2005 — closed Houston's October early, after a four-run first inning chased Hunter Brown and three Astros homers weren't enough.
The Houston Astros' season ended on Wednesday, September 30, when the Chicago White Sox beat Houston 7-3 at Daikin Park to complete a two-game sweep of the American League wild-card series. It was Chicago's first postseason series victory since its sweep of the Astros in the 2005 World Series. Houston also dropped Game 1, 6-3, on September 29.
Game 2 unraveled in the first inning. Chicago scored four runs on five hits and two Houston errors, and Astros starter Hunter Brown retired only two of the nine batters he faced. Houston climbed back on solo home runs by Jeremy Pena in the first, Cam Smith — a 440-foot shot — in the second, and Jose Altuve in the fourth. Altuve's was his 28th career postseason home run, second all-time to Manny Ramirez, and it pulled the Astros within 4-3.
The Astros' best chance came in the fifth, when they loaded the bases with Altuve at the plate. He flied out to right to end the threat. An inning later, Chase Meidroth hit a three-run home run off reliever Bryan Abreu to restore Chicago's four-run margin, and that was the game.
Chicago moved on to face the Cleveland Guardians in the Division Series. For Houston, the sweep ends the club's October in the opening round — and starts an offseason of questions at Daikin Park.
