White Sox show playoff poise vs. Astros, win wild-card opener — SkimNews
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- White Sox won Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series 6-3 over the Astros, scoring first on Munetaka Murakami's sacrifice fly after drawing three first-inning walks off AJ Blubaugh and never trailing
- Hagen Smith opened with three scoreless innings on 38 pitches — just his second outing that long since his August promotion from the minors — retiring MVP-favorite Yordan Alvarez twice on grounders
- Grant Taylor closed with 2⅓ innings and a game-high 54 pitches, earning praise from Sam Antonacci for "electric stuff" in his postseason debut
- Colson Montgomery launched a 432-foot homer to center field while batting ninth, a bright spot in a season where the shortstop hit .197 with a major-league-record 227 strikeouts and 31 homers
- Chicago's offense produced four walks, two hit batters and five opposite-field singles — a contact-heavy, pass-the-baton approach atypical for a club that ranked fifth in MLB home runs during the regular season
- The Astros got only a two-run pinch homer from Nelson Velazquez and committed an error leading to an unearned run, while Houston's Josh Hader and Bryan Abreu were left fresh for Game 2 against Hunter Brown
Why it matters: Houston avoided taxing Hader and Abreu in Game 1 and now has frontline starter Hunter Brown for Game 2, giving the Astros a clear path to even the series; Chicago, meanwhile, must string together another bullpen-bridge effort with a pitching staff that has been improvising all season.
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