Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña (3) is seen as Chicago White Sox third base coach Justin Jirschele, left, gives Tristan Peters a high-five after Chase Meidroth’s RBI single in the fifth inning during Game 1 of an American League Wild Card Series in Houston, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Houston Astros pinch hitter Nelson Velázquez crosses the plate after hitting a 2-run home run off Chicago White Sox pitcher Sean Newcomb during the fifth inning of Game 1 of an American League Wild Card Series in Houston, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Houston Astros relief pitcher Miguel Ullola throws against the Chicago White Sox during the second inning of Game 1 of an American League Wild Card Series in Houston, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Houston Astros relief pitcher Miguel Ullola reacts after striking out Chicago White Sox designated hitter Andrew Benintendi to end the second inning of Game 1 of an American League Wild Card Series in Houston, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña (3) salutes as he is introduced before Game 1 of an American League Wild Card Series against the Chicago White Sox in Houston, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Chicago White Sox second baseman Chase Meidroth (10) scores past Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz (21) on a 2-run single by Sam Antonacci during the second inning of Game 1 of an American League Wild Card Series in Houston, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Chicago White Sox left fielder Sam Antonacci (17) hits a 2-run single off Houston Astros pitcher Bryan King during the second nning of Game 1 of an American League Wild Card Series in Houston, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Houston Astros pitcher Bryan King (74) throws against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning of Game 1 of an American League Wild Card Series in Houston, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker (8) makes a play at first on a grounder by Chicago White Sox catcher Kyle Teel, but makes a throwing error in an attempt to throw out Sam Antonacci advancing to second, during the first inning of Game 1 of an American League Wild Card Series in Houston, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
In dueling bullpen games to begin a playoff series, the Houston Astros’ stumbled and their opponent’s stood firm. As a result, the Astros fell right back into a familiar position.
Losing 6-3 to the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of the AL wild card round Tuesday left Houston on the brink of elimination in the best-of-three series. The Astros, whose playoff hopes remained in jeopardy until the final day of the regular season, will start ace Hunter Brown in Game 2 trying to sustain them.
THE OPENER: A bullpen game doesn’t work for Astros
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Neither Houston nor Chicago had time to reset its rotation before this series started, spurring both to deploy their bullpens in the opener. The Astros used eight different pitchers. Five allowed at least one run. They trailed 3-0 after two innings and 5-0 in the fifth. — Matt Kawahara
Chicago White Sox
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Antonacci lf
3
1
1
2
1
0
.333
Doyle cf
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
Teel c
5
0
1
0
0
0
.200
Vargas 3b
4
0
0
0
1
1
.000
Murakami 1b
3
2
1
1
1
2
.333
Benintendi dh
1
0
0
0
1
1
.000
a-Grichuk ph-dh
3
0
2
0
0
0
.667
c-Acuña pr-dh
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
Peters cf-lf
4
0
1
0
0
1
.250
B.Montgomery rf
4
1
2
0
0
2
.500
Meidroth 2b
4
1
2
1
0
0
.500
C.Montgomery ss
3
1
1
1
0
1
.333
Totals
34
6
11
5
4
8
.324
Houston
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Peña ss
4
1
1
0
0
0
.250
Alvarez dh
4
0
1
0
0
0
.250
Paredes 3b
4
0
1
0
0
1
.250
Altuve 2b
4
0
0
0
0
0
.000
Diaz c
4
0
0
0
0
2
.000
Walker 1b
2
0
0
0
2
0
.000
Spence cf
4
1
1
0
0
2
.250
Smith rf
4
0
1
0
0
1
.250
Trammell lf
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
b-Velázquez ph-lf
3
1
1
2
0
1
.333
Totals
33
3
6
2
2
7
.182
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Chicago White Sox
1
2
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
—
6
11
1
Houston
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
1
0
—
3
6
1
a-lined out for Benintendi in the 5th. b-homered for Trammell in the 5th. c-ran for Grichuk in the 9th.
E_Walker (1), Vargas (1). LOB_Chicago White Sox 9, Houston 6. HR_C.Montgomery (1), Velázquez (1). RBIs_Antonacci 2 (2), Meidroth (1), C.Montgomery (1), Murakami (1), Velázquez 2 (2). SF_Murakami (1). S_Peters (1), Trammell (1).
Runners left in scoring position_Chicago White Sox 3 (Peters, Benintendi 2); Houston 4 (Smith, Alvarez, Velázquez, Diaz). RISP_Chicago White Sox 4 for 11; Houston 0 for 7.
GIDP_Meidroth, C.Montgomery, Teel.
DP_Houston 3 (Peña-Walker 2, Altuve-Peña-Walker).
Chicago White Sox
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
H.Smith
3
2
0
0
0
1
38
0.00
Hicks, W,1-0
1 1/3
0
0
0
0
1
17
0.00
Newcomb
1
2
2
2
0
0
19
18.00
Sandlin, H,1
1 1/3
0
0
0
1
0
22
0.00
Taylor
2 1/3
2
1
0
1
5
54
0.00
Houston
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
Blubaugh, L,0-1
2/3
0
1
0
3
0
27
0.00
King
1/3
4
2
2
0
1
22
54.00
Ullola
3
1
1
1
0
4
31
3.00
Hendrickson
1 2/3
3
1
1
1
0
37
5.40
VanWey
1/3
0
0
0
0
0
3
0.00
Sousa
1
2
1
1
0
1
13
9.00
Abreu
1
0
0
0
0
1
11
0.00
Hader
1
1
0
0
0
1
11
0.00
King pitched to 5 batters in the 2nd.
Inherited runners-scored_Taylor 1-0, King 2-0, Ullola 3-0. HBP_King (C.Montgomery), Hendrickson (Antonacci). WP_Sousa 2.
ABS Challenge_Diaz 2 (Ball-Overturned to Strike, Strike-Confirmed); Teel 3 (Ball-Overturned to Strike, Ball-Overturned to Strike, Ball-Overturned to Strike); Murakami (Strike-Confirmed).
Umpires_Home, Alex MacKay; First, Alex Tosi; Second, Ryan Additon; Third, Alan Porter; Right, Paul Clemons; Left, Edwin Moscoso.
T_3:13. A_34,011 (41,000).
After Christian Walker led off with a walk, Lucas Spence and Cam Smith struck out against Grant Taylor. Nelson Velázquez grounded out to third to end the game. — Reid Laymance
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Josh Hader, who hadn’t pitched since Wednesday against Seattle, is on for the ninth. He is the eighth pitcher of the game for Houston. Hader allowed one hit and retired the White Sox on 11 pitches. — Reid Laymance
Jose Altuve beat out a ground ball to third to score Jeremy Peña with two outs in the eighth. The play was ruled an error on the first baseman, whose foot came off the bag. Peña and Yordan Alvarez had reached on one-out singles before Isaac Paredes struck out. The rally ended when Yainer Diaz struck out looking on a full count. — Reid Laymance
Bryan Abreu gets the eighth inning for the Astros. He hasn’t pitched since Thursday against the Athletics. He retired the side in order on 11 pitches. — Reid Laymance
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Bennett Sousa uncorks a wild pitch, allowing one run to score and moving the other runner to third. He then strikes out Braden Montgomery, who reaches on another wild pitch, albeit with the runner holding at third. He then gets a double-play ball to avoid further damage heading into the seventh-inning stretch. — Greg Rajan
Two singles off Bennett Sousa and a sacrifice put runners on second and third for Chicago with former Texas A&M star Braden Montgomery up, — Greg Rajan
The Astros go down in order in the sixth. Lefty Bennett Sousa is in to pitch the seventh for Houston. — Greg Rajan
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After Sean Newcomb retires Yordan Alvarez to lead off the bottom of the sixth, righty David Sandlin is coming in for the Astros’ pocket of righty hitters. It’s still 5-2 White Sox. — Greg Rajan
Josh Hendrickson is out after giving up one run in 1 ⅔ innings. Righty Logan VanWey takes over with two outs and the bases empty in the sixth. — Greg Rajan
With two outs in the fifth inning, Nelson Velázquez rockets a two-run, pinch-hit homer to the Crawford Boxes for Houston’s first runs of the game. — Greg Rajan
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White Sox reliever Jordan Hicks, who was a third-round pick out of Cypress Creek High School in 2015, got four straight outs in relief of starter Hagen Smith. Hicks pitched a perfect 1 ⅓ innings with a strikeout. The White Sox are bringing in Sean Newcomb with a 5-0 lead and one out in the fifth. — Matt Young
Logan VanWey was getting warm in the Astros bullpen during the top of the fifth. If the Astros don’t score some runs, you can expect Joe Espada to let VanWey and possibly Tatsuya Imai finish this one off once Josh Hendrickson is done. Then, you just hope Hunter Brown in Game 2 with your best relievers fully rested will mean a better day for the Astros tomorrow. — Matt Young
Chase Meidroth’s infield single goes under Isaac Paredes’ glove and Jeremy Peña has no play, allowing a run to score. It’s 5-0 White Sox. — Greg Rajan
The sacks are full for the White Sox for the third time today. There’s one out in the fifth and Chase Meidroth is up against Josh Hendrickson. — Greg Rajan
A leadoff walk and one-out single put runners on first and second for the White Sox against Josh Hendrickson. — Greg Rajan
Jordan Hicks sets the Astros down in order while hitting 100 mph on the radar gun. Meantime, lefty Josh Henrickson is coming in to pitch for the Astros. He just made his big-league debut last week. — Greg Rajan
Jordan Hicks, a Cypress Creek graduate, takes over on the mound for Hagen Smith to start the bottom of the fourth inning. — Greg Rajan
White Sox manager Will Venable indicated pregame that tabbing left-hander Hagen Smith as his opener partly reflected the presence of Yordan Alvarez high in Houston’s lineup.
“They’re very right-handed up front but have a big hitter in the two-hole that we’re concerned about,” Venable said. “When you looked at that, plus just the environment, who is going to be able to handle this moment, plus the quality of pitcher that we wanted, Hagen was the choice.”
Smith validated that confidence. In his three scoreless innings, he faced Alvarez twice, including with a runner on third base and two outs in the third. Alvarez grounded out both times. — Matt Kawahara
The game was delayed briefly as White Sox manager Will Venable challenged whether Jose Altuve was on the outfield grass on Sam Antonacci’s grounder to second. The out stood, and Chicago lost the challenge. Miguel Ullola got out of the inning without further damage. Still 4-0 White Sox. — Greg Rajan
The White Sox moved Colson Montgomery down to the ninth spot in the order after he hit .099 in September. He’s responded by getting hit by a pitch in his first AB, then homering here in the fourth. — Matt Young
Colson Montgomery, Chicago’s No. 9 hitter, cranks a leadoff home run off the center-field batter’s eye to give the White Sox a 4-0 lead in the fourth. Estimated distance was 432 feet. — Greg Rajan
The Astros got a runner in scoring position with two outs in the third, but Hagen Smith got Yordan Alvarez to ground out on the first pitch to end the threat. — Greg Rajan
Pope Leo XIV, who is from Chicago and a longtime White Sox fan, sent a letter the White Sox that the team posted before Game 1. The letter talked about the value of sports and ended, “With these sentiments, I willingly invoke the Almighty’s abundant blessings upon you and your loved ones.” Perhaps that explains this early 3-0 White Sox lead. Where are the “Rally Nuns” when you need them? — Matt Young
After two prolonged innings to start this game, Miguel Ullola set down the White Sox in order in the third inning. — Greg Rajan
Miguel Ullola got three huge outs in the second inning on nine pitches. That kind of efficiency would be huge for however long Ullola goes. The Astros burned two pitchers to get their first three outs. Ullola is back out to start the third inning with nobody warming. Houston does have several multi-inning options in the bullpen — including Tatsuya Imai — but has to figure out how to piece together this game without torpedoing the bullpen for potentially the next two days. Ullola threw 35 pitches in his longest of 11 outings for the Astros this season, a three-inning appearance last Thursday against the A’s. — Matt Kawahara
Houston goes down in order in the second inning. — Greg Rajan
Miguel Ullola strikes out Andrew Benintendi to leave the bases loaded in the top of the second. Remember that moment if the Astros come back. — Greg Rajan
Miguel Ullola gets Miguel Vargas to hit into a force at home and then strikes out the dangerous Munetaka Murakami for the second out of the second. Bases still loaded. — Greg Rajan
Bryan King gives up a hit to Kyle Teel to re-load the bases. He’s pulled from the gam for Miguel Ullola and is serenaded with boos coming off the mound. — Greg Rajan
Bryan King gives up a two-run single to Sam Antonacci and the White Sox triple their lead. They have runners on first and second with no outs in the second inning. — Greg Rajan
Two singles and hitting No. 9 hitter Colson Montgomery have loaded the bases for the White Sox with no outs in the second inning against Bryan King. — Greg Rajan
Braden Montgomery, the former Texas A&M standout, singles through the right side to start the second inning for the White Sox, and Chase Meidroth follows with a hit to the same spot. — Greg Rajan
The Astros strand a runner to end their first time at the plate. Bryan King remains on the mound to pitch the second inning. — Greg Rajan
Jeremy Peña (first pitch) and Yordan Alvarez (three pitches) make two quick outs to start the bottom of the first before Isaac Paredes singles to center for the Astros’ first hit. — Greg Rajan
Tristan Peters strikes out to end the top of the first inning, keeping the Astros’ deficit at one run. — Greg Rajan
Bryan King throws two balls before landing a strike, prompting a round of sarcastic applause. — Greg Rajan
The Astros were 22-49 this season when their opponent scored first. — Matt Kawahara
AJ Blubaugh walks Andrew Benintendi for his third free pass of the inning and has been lifted for Bryan King. — Greg Rajan
Munetaka Murakami gets the runner in from third with a sacrifice fly to right, giving the White Sox the series’ first run. Two outs and a runner on first for AJ Blubaugh. — Greg Rajan
AJ Blubaugh just issued his second walk to put runners on first and third with one out. That prompts a visit from pitching coach Josh Miller before slugger Mutetaka Murakami comes up. — Greg Rajan
Three batters in, Bryan King is warming in the Astros’ bullpen. — Matt Kawahara
Kyle Teel grounds out to Christian Walker at first, but his throw to try to get Sam Antonacci at second skips into left field for an error, putting a runner at third with one out. — Greg Rajan
The White Sox will strike out. Their offense had the second-highest swing-and-miss rate and fifth-highest strikeout rate in the majors this season. But they also had the sixth-highest walk rate and sixth-lowest chase rate. Astros pitchers issued the second-most walks in the sport this year. Sam Antonacci began this game by drawing an eight-pitch walk from AJ Blubaugh. — Matt Kawahara
AJ Blubaugh battles Sam Antonacci for seven pitches before issuing a leadoff walk. Not the start the Astros wanted, of course. — Greg Rajan
AJ Blubaugh’s first pitch to Sam Antonacci was a 95.3 mph fastball for a called strike, and Game 1 is underway. — Matt Young
Thanks to MLB’s new deal with NBC, the first two games of the Astros-White Sox may not be as accessible for some fans. For more on where to find NBCSN and how to watch the series, click here. — Greg Rajan
Drew Saylor, who spent most of this season as the Triple-A Sugar Land hitting coach and joined the Astros in September to help out, delivered the lineup card for Houston before Game 1. Saylor also delivered the card before the regular-season finale Sunday against the A’s and the Astros usually stick with the same person until they lose. Manager Will Venable took out the White Sox card. — Matt Kawahara
HP: Alex MacKay
1B: Alex Tosi
2B: Ryan Additon
3B: Alan Porter
LF: Edwin Moscoso
RF: Paul Clemons.
Christian Walker, a country singer from Beaumont, sang the national anthem before Game 1 of Astros-White Sox. When Walker was introduced, Jose Altuve turned to Astros first baseman Christian Walker with hilariously wide eyes. — Matt Young
Having to go with a bullpen game for Game 1 of this wild-card series isn’t ideal, but having Hunter Brown and Hayden Wesneski ready to go on full rest for Game 2 and a potential Game 3 could work out well as they have been the club’s two best starters down the stretch.
“Having those (two) guys healthy with regular rest is super valuable for us,” Astros manager Joe Espada said before Game 1. — Matt Young
Joe Espada did not indicate pregame how far he hopes to take opener AJ Blubaugh today. Blubaugh threw 3 ⅔ innings in his longest outing of the regular season, but that was May 3 and his recent outings have been in the one- to two-inning range.
The White Sox lineup features six left-handed or switch-hitters in the first seven spots. Blubaugh held left-handed hitters to a .622 OPS this season, one reason he drew the starting assignment.
“(Blubaugh) can go to places where we feel like we can create some swing-and-miss,” Espada said. “Hopefully he sets the tone and then we can hand the ball off to the rest of the guys just depending on where we’re in the lineup.” — Matt Kawahara
Geoff Blum has been a staple on Astros broadcasts during the team’s golden era. But every time the playoffs began, he’d become a spectator. Until this season. An MLB broadcasting change has resulted in a new opportunity for Blum, allowing him to call postseason games for the first time.
When the Astros and White Sox start their series Tuesday, Blum will be on the call for NBCSN with play-by-play man Tom McCarthy, fellow analyst Steve Stone, “Inside the Pitch” analyst Adam Ottavino and field reporter Britney Eurton.
Click here for Blum’s thoughts on finally getting to call playoff action and it being against the White Sox, for whom he’s a postseason hero. — Greg Rajan
Among those at Daikin Park today for Astros-White Sox: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. As the Astros wrapped up batting practice, Manfred made his way over to Astros owner Jim Crane to chat near the home dugout. — Matt Kawahara
Sean Burke (11-7, 3.34 ERA, who likely will be the Game 2 starter for the White Sox, says the team hasn’t really discussed how rowdy Daikin Park gets in the postseason, but he’s already well aware just from watching games on TV. “Being a baseball fan, there’s obviously been a ton of playoff games played here and we know how loud it can get,” Burke said. — Matt Young
White Sox manager Will Venable acknowledged there will be situations where he will not hesitate to intentionally walk Yordan Alvarez, the frontrunner for American League MVP, but it will come on a case-by-case basis. “I don’t think there’s one way to go about attacking him or not attacking him,” Venable said. “We know he’s a real problem in the middle of that lineup.” — Matt Young
The White Sox almost assuredly will go with Sean Burke (11-7, 3.34 ERA) in Game 2 against Hunter Brown, but manager Will Venable wasn’t ready to make it official, saying he wanted to see how Game 1 went with the 26-year-old Burke possibly being available in a relief role. — Matt Young
White Sox manager Will Venable says one of his tougher playoff roster decisions was leaving off catcher Drew Romo, the former star from The Woodlands High School. The 2020 first-round picks has played in 61 games this season, but hit just .144 with seven home runs. Romo had been active because backup catcher Jake Rogers was on the paternity list, but Rogers is back and made the roster over Romo. — Matt Young
The White Sox have a heavy lefty lineup. Five of the guys in the starting lineup hit from the left side with another being a switch-hitter. That could be a big factor late in games if the Astros get to lefty closer Josh Hader, who is especially tough to hit for left-handers.
LF Sam Antonacci
C Kyle Teel
3B Miguel Vargas
1B Munetaka Murakami
DH Andrew Benintendi
CF Tristan Peters
RF Braden Montgomery
2B Chase Meidroth
L SS Colson Montgomery
SP Hagen Smith
After injuries limited the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez, who won the American League batting crown this season, to just 48 games a year ago, the slugger was able to stay healthy all season and play in 158 games this year. Alvarez said he made adjustments this season that helped, including changing his diet and bringing a trainer with him to all the road trips. When asked if there was a specific food that he cut out that he misses the most, Alvarez just smiled: “Possibly, yes, but I don’t want to go into details about that.” — Matt Young
How key is it to win Game 1 of the wild-card series? Since MLB added the best-of-3 opening round to the postseason in 2022, the winner of Game 1 has won 15 of the 16 series.
The only team to lose the opener and win the series was the 2025 Yankees against the Red Sox. Eleven of the 16 series ended in sweeps. — Greg Rajan
Astros Game 2 starter Hunter Brown says the talk in the clubhouse has been about how good it is to be at home for the entire wild-card sereis. “That’s what’s kind of going around, just how loud the crowd gets and things like that,” Brown said four hours before the start of the series. — Matt Young
The Astros will go with Hunter Brown as the Game 2 starter on Wednesday. Brown was a valuable part of the Astros’ bullpen in the 2022 championship season and again in 2023 when the team made it to the American League Championship Series. Brown was good in his only playoff start of his career, giving up just one run in 5 ⅔ innings in Game 2 of the 2024 wild-card series loss to the Detroit Tigers. — Matt Young
Tatsuya Imai pitched sparingly down the stretch, making just eight appearances in the final two weeks of the regular season, but he still made the playoff roster. Astros manager Joe Espada said he has been encouraged by Imai’s recent outings, which included six scoreless innings spread over four relief appearances. Espada also mentioned Imai’s ability to create swing-and-miss and him being able to provide multiple innings, if needed. — Matt Young
Astros manager Joe Espada said he thinks Peter Lambert, who threw 103 pitches in the four-game series against the Athletics over the weekend, could be available by tomorrow’s Game 2 in some capacity. Ethan Pecko was left off the roster due to question about how much he’d be available for this series, though he’s also dealing with a nagging left hip issue, Espada said. — Matt Kawahara
SS Jeremy Peña
DH Yordan Alvarez
3B Isaac Paredes
2B Jose Altuve
C Yainer Diaz
1B Christian Walker
CF Lucas Spence
RF Cam Smith
LF Taylor Trammell
P A.J. Blubaugh
Reliever Steven Okert, who missed the final month of the season with a hamstring injury, is not on the Astros roster for their wild-card series against the Chicago White Sox. The Astros did include pitchers Tatsuya Imai, who made just eight appearances after Aug. 1, and lefty Josh Hendrickson, who debuted last week, on the roster. Houston carried 12 pitchers and 14 position players. Outfielder Joey Loperfido, who spent most of the second half at Triple-A Sugar Land, made the roster, while LaMonte Wade Jr. did not. Both are left-handed hitting outfielders and the Astros may have opted for more speed and defense off the bench. — Matt Kawahara
Thanks to MLB’s new deal with NBC, the first two games of the Astros-White Sox may not be as accessible for some fans. For more on where to find NBCSN and how to watch the series, click here. — Greg Rajan