White Sox beat Astros 6–3 in Wild Card opener behind a bullpen game
Chicago is one win from its first playoff series victory since sweeping Houston in the 2005 World Series. Game 2 is Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET.
HOUSTON — The Chicago White Sox took Game 1 of their American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday, beating the Houston Astros 6–3 with a pitching plan that used the bullpen from the first inning.
Colson Montgomery gave Chicago a lift with a solo home run projected at 432 feet, and Sam Antonacci drove in two runs with a single. Braden Montgomery and Chase Meidroth each finished with two hits and scored a run.
Bullpen plan works
Instead of a traditional starter, the White Sox leaned on a string of relievers. Left-hander Hagen Smith was the key piece, throwing three scoreless innings and allowing two hits. His biggest out came in the third inning, when he retired Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez with runners in scoring position.
Houston had chances to climb back but could not string together enough hits against Chicago's relief corps.
What's next
The best-of-three series continues Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. CT) on Peacock. Chicago expects right-hander Sean Burke to carry a big share of the innings as the White Sox try to close out their first postseason series win since the 2005 World Series — when they swept these same Astros.
Elsewhere on the Wild Card schedule Tuesday, Atlanta beat Philadelphia 5–3, and the Yankees and Red Sox played their opener in the Bronx.
Sources
This article was written by Statevane from the reporting and official sources linked above. Spot an error? Tell us.