HOUSTON – Sam Antonacci’s double to lead off Game 2 of the American League wild-card series missed Yordan Alvarez’s glove by inches, but that was all the daylight the Chicago White Sox needed.
The White Sox jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and never looked back, defeating the Houston Astros, 7-3, on Wednesday, Sept. 30 to complete a series sweep. The White Sox advanced to play the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS, which begins Saturday, Oct. 3.
To White Sox manager Will Venable, the ruthless first inning exemplified his team’s approach.
“The way that we started was really, I think, indicative of that fearlessness and the guys responded behind it, so just amazing stuff,” he said.
Poetically, it was the White Sox’s first postseason series win since they swept the Astros in the 2005 World Series.
Chase Meidroth, whose three-run homer in the sixth inning on Wednesday put the game away for the White Sox, said the result came down to belief, energy and confidence.
“We got a young, hungry group, some veteran guys that we lean on,” Meidroth said. “But, yeah, it's been the same all year. We believe we can win every game.”
Astros fans at Daikin Park began to believe it, too, when the White Sox pounded Houston starter Hunter Brown for four runs in the first inning. Three solo home runs by Jeremy Peña, Cam Smith and Jose Altuve chipped the lead to one run, but the Astros failed to capitalize on other opportunities before Meidroth’s decisive blast.
In the fifth inning, the Astros had Alvarez, this year’s AL batting title winner, at the plate with two on and one out. But White Sox southpaw Anthony Kay got Alvarez to fly out and, after walking Isaac Paredes, induced a flyout from Altuve to leave the bases loaded.
Alvarez hit .200 with zero home runs and eight walks in 29 plate appearances against the White Sox this regular season, and went 1-for-8 in the wild-card series. Venable said Chicago was prepared to walk Alvarez in certain scenarios, but said those situations never arose.
Chicago was two outs away from securing the win when a chant of, “Let’s go, White Sox!” broke out down the third-base line.
After the White Sox suffered through four consecutive sub-.500 seasons, including losing 100-plus games in each of the previous two seasons, triumph took over.
Venable said he is neither a champagne nor a cigar man, but the second-year manager grinned ear-to-ear as he sprayed his players and staff with bubbly inside the clubhouse.
“From where the organization was and the pain that was those couple years and those 100-loss seasons, and then to see the growth and to have the fans be part of this and be able to celebrate it, it just makes me happy,” Venable said.
Veteran designated hitter Andrew Benintendi was the only White Sox player in Wednesday’s lineup with previous postseason experience, which came in 2016-18 with the Boston Red Sox.
Now in his fourth season with the White Sox, Benintendi clutched a paper cup filled with Crown Royal and cola and recalled the club’s significant improvement in the second half of the 2025 season. That turnaround sparked a belief that simmered all summer and boiled over this season, Benintendi said, accelerated by a carefree camaraderie.
“I think Antonacci said it: We’re just a bunch of idiots that enjoy hanging out and getting after it together,” Benintendi said.
Ignorance is bliss, as the saying goes, and Wednesday’s victory spurred a celebration as boisterous as the team’s eclectic collection of personalities.
Reliever Erick Fedde, who tossed the game’s final two scoreless innings, laid shirtless and glided like a hockey puck across a folding table slick with beer as his teammates pushed him back and forth. Catcher Kyle Teel danced with first baseman Munetaka Murakami and yelled, “I am Japanese!!!” mimicking Murakami’s viral postgame interview from when the White Sox clinched their postseason berth a few days earlier.
Buckets of Dubble Bubble chewing gum were emptied of their contents and refilled with alcohol. Cigar smoke clouded the air and booze pooled on the floor. Then, the bottles of Budweiser ran out.
“We need more beer! They weren’t prepared for us,” someone yelled.
Eventually, the celebration spilled out into the dugout tunnel and onto the field, the site of countless playoff celebrations over the last decade – but usually for the home team.
Since 2015, the Astros have played and won more postseason games than any other American League club. From 2017 through 2023, Houston made the ALCS every year and won 100-plus games in four different seasons. After missing out on the playoffs in 2025, the Astros this season went 81-81 and became the first team in MLB history to make the postseason without a winning record.
But the White Sox had their own history to rewrite, and in the process played a part in dismantling a dynasty.
In the wild-card series, the White Sox offense hit 8-for-20 with runners in scoring position while the Astros hit 0-for-9.
“I think the mindset here is it’s just another game,” Benintendi said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s at home or on the road; we’re going to show up, do what we do and hopefully everything goes our way. And we showed up these last two games.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Young, hungry' White Sox come of age and dismantle a dynasty in the process
