The Aporia · White Sox sweep aside Astros to end 21-year wait for playoff series win

White Sox sweep aside Astros to end 21-year wait for playoff series win

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White Sox sweep aside Astros to end 21-year wait for playoff series win. (2026, October 1). The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/sep/30/white-sox-astros-al-wild-card-series-sweep

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Quick Summary

The Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros 7-3 on Wednesday, sweeping their AL Wild Card Series and ending a 21-year playoff drought since winning a series against the same opponent in the 2005 World Series. Chase Meidroth hit a decisive three-run homer to secure the victory for the White Sox, who are now advancing to face Cleveland in the AL Division Series starting Saturday despite having lost over 100 games each of the last three seasons. The Astros, meanwhile, suffered their ninth consecutive home playoff loss and are grappling with uncertainty following the recent firing of general manager Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada’s pending contract expiration.

Written by AI on 2026-10-01, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The Houston Astros and the Chicago White Sox, two unlikely playoff teams with remarkable turnaround stories, faced off in a best-of-three AL Wild Card Series starting on Tuesday in Houston. The Astros clinched their division title despite ending the regular season at exactly .500 (81-81), marking them as baseball’s first such division winner. In contrast, the White Sox overcame losing 100 games each of the last three seasons to secure a playoff spot.

In Game 1 on Tuesday, the White Sox took an early lead with four runs in the first inning and won 6-3 despite the Astros employing a bullpen game strategy led by AJ Blumbaugh. The announced attendance was sparse at 34,011, leading to fan frustration among the players who heard boos throughout the game.

The White Sox continued their strong performance on Wednesday, sweeping the series with a 7-3 victory in Game 2. This marked Chicago's first playoff series win since 2005 and advanced them to face the AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians in the Division Series starting Saturday in Cleveland.

Despite Houston’s playoff woes at home—dropping their ninth straight home playoff game—they expressed disappointment over fan support, with players like Bennett Sousa feeling that they needed more encouragement from their audience. Manager Will Venable of the White Sox praised his team for maintaining belief and achieving a historic turnaround to clinch this victory.

Written for “White Sox Playoff Run” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 16 other(s) covering the same event.

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Uncertain

0 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

66/100

The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

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The Guardian · 1883 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

No reporter is named on this article, beyond the feed's “Agencies”.

Topics

Astros Chicago Cleveland Houston the White Sox

Subjects

Astros ORG · 6× Houston ORG · 5× Chicago GPE · 3× the White Sox ORG · 3× Altuve PERSON · 2× Cleveland ORG · 2× Meidroth PERSON · 2× Chase Meidroth PERSON · 1× The Chicago White Sox ORG · 1× the Houston Astros ORG · 1×

Narrative

Under the direction of second-year skipper Will Venable and with a letter of support from Pope Leo XIV, the White Sox advanced to face AL Central champion Cleveland in the AL Division Series beginning Saturday in Cleveland.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-01

🔮 Under the direction of second-year skipper Will Venable and with a letter of support from Pope Leo XIV, the White Sox advanced to face AL Central champion Cleveland in the AL Division Series beginning Saturday in Cleveland.

2026-10-01 · The Guardian

White Sox sweep aside Astros to end 21-year wait for playoff series win · assertive framing

Claims (20 extracted, 0 hedged)

The Chicago White Sox used a big first inning and a three-run homer from Chase Meidroth to propel them to a 7-3 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday and sweep their AL Wild Card Series. asserted

Sox → use → Series

It’s the first time Chicago has won a playoff series since beating Houston in the World Series in 2005. asserted

Chicago → ’ → 2005

Sox → advance → Cleveland

The White Sox, who lost 100 games in each of the last three seasons, are the only team in major league history to follow consecutive 100-loss seasons with a playoff berth. asserted

who → lose → berth

The AL West-winning Astros went 81-81 to become the first team to reach the postseason without a winning record. asserted

Astros → win → record

Their recent playoff woes in Houston continued Wednesday as they dropped their ninth straight home playoff game in a ninth trip to the postseason in the last 10 years. asserted

they → continue → years

Chicago pounced on the Astros for four runs in the first inning, a day after scoring three in the first two innings of a 6-3 win. asserted

Chicago → pounce → win

Houston ace Hunter Brown was lifted after getting just two outs and wasn’t helped by a sloppy defense that committed two first-inning errors. asserted

that → lift → errors

The Astros clawed their way back into it with solo home runs from Jeremy Peña, Cam Smith and Jose Altuve to trail by one entering the sixth inning. asserted

Astros → claw → inning

AJ Blubaugh, who opened Game 1, and Peter Lambert, pitching on two days’ rest, combined to retire the next 13 batters after Brown exited. asserted

Brown → open → batters

Chicago’s next baserunner came when Lambert walked Andrew Benintendi to start the sixth and then walked Tristan Peters. asserted

Lambert → come → Peters

Bryan Abreu came in, and Meidroth smashed his fifth pitch off the wall in left field to push the lead to 7-3. asserted

Meidroth → come → 7

He yelled throughout his trip around the bases to the delight of a patch of White Sox fans seated near the visitors’ dugout. asserted

He → yell → dugout

Houston faced boos for a second game in a row from an unusually thin crowd. asserted

Houston → face → crowd

It’s a second straight playoff trip in which the Astros have been swept at home in the wild-card round after losing both games to Detroit in 2024. asserted

Astros → ’ → 2024

Now they’ll face an uncertain future, with manager Joe Espada’s contract set to expire at season’s end after general manager Dana Brown was fired last month. asserted

Brown → face → end

It was a disappointing series for Houston slugger and AL MVP favorite Yordan Alvarez, who managed only a single with two strikeouts in eight at-bats in the series. asserted

who → manage → series

Altuve’s shot to the seats in left field in the fourth inning got the Astros within 4-3. asserted

shot → get → 4

The Astros had a shot to take the lead before Meidroth’s homer. asserted

Astros → have → homer

They loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, but Anthony Kay retired Altuve on a flyout to end the inning. asserted

Kay → load → inning