Call it divine intervention.
Call it resilience. Call it loose. Call it relentless.
Call it whatever you want, but call it a White Sox winner.
It had been 1,815 days since the White Sox last won a playoff game. Nine innings in Houston ended the wait.
The White Sox beat the Astros 6-3 in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series at Daikin Park, putting an exclamation point on a season few saw coming.
“We kind of just do the same stuff that we’ve been doing all year,” Sam Antonacci told Brooke Fletcher on CHSN after the game. “We’re just a bunch of idiots in the dugout. Just because it’s a bunch of new stuff in the stadium and it’s the postseason, we’re the same people.”
And Antonacci wasted little time proving it.
After drawing a leadoff walk to start the game, Antonacci came around to score on Munetaka Murakami’s sacrifice fly, giving the White Sox a 1-0 lead and immediately putting pressure on Houston.
“It was big just getting out of the gate early and getting our foot down,” Antonacci said. “I thought we put together a lot of good ABs today.”
Antonacci added a two-run single the next inning.
With four runs in the first four innings, those good at-bats came in bunches.
Even from the No. 9 spot.
Much-criticized Colson Montgomery launched a 432-foot home run to center field, becoming the first White Sox No. 9 hitter to homer in the postseason since Juan Uribe in Game 1 of the 2005 ALDS.
“It felt good,” Montgomery said. “The first two pitches, I didn’t know what I was doing. I knew he had a good fastball, and I knew I had to be ready. He threw a good pitch, and I was just able to put a good swing on it.”
The White Sox weren’t just swinging like they belonged in October. They were pitching like it, too.
For the first time in MLB postseason history, both teams opened the game with relievers. But after Chicago’s opener did his job, rookie Hagen Smith took over — and looked anything but overwhelmed by the moment.
Smith delivered three scoreless innings, giving the White Sox exactly what they needed while the offense built its lead.
“Obviously, credit the pitching staff today,” Antonacci said. “They pitched their butts off. Good baseball all around.”
Smith may have provided the early stability, but Grant Taylor was left to finish the job.
And it took a career-high 54 pitches to do it.
Taylor entered for David Sandlin in the seventh inning and survived his biggest test an inning later. Jeremy Peña scored on a Miguel Vargas throwing error to cut the White Sox lead to 6-3, bringing the tying run to the plate with two runners aboard.
Taylor never let him get any farther.
He struck out Yainer Diaz to escape the eighth, then returned for the ninth to finish off the victory in front of 34,011 at Daikin Park.
“I feel good right now,” Taylor said. “Once you get out there, it’s the same job. It’s pretty awesome, and I was just excited for the opportunity.”
Houston’s top five hitters — Peña, Yordan Alvarez, Isaac Paredes, Jose Altuve and Diaz — combined to go 3-for-20. The loss was the Astros’ eighth straight postseason defeat at home.
For a White Sox team that spent the season defying expectations, one playoff win wasn’t about changing anything.
It was about refusing to.
“We came in as underdogs, and nobody really believed us,” Taylor said. “We’re not doing anything special, and here we are in the postseason. So, now everyone is just talking about how we’re young, and we don’t have experience in the postseason. We can use that to our advantage too and play our ball and do the same thing we’ve been doing all year.”
Key Hitters
White Sox
Sam Antonacci: 1-for-3, 2 RBIs
Munetaka Murakami: 1-for-3, 2 runs, RBI
Randal Grichuk: 2-for-3
Colson Montgomery: 2-for-3, HR
Chase Meidroth: 2-for-4, run, RBI
Astros
Jeremy Peña: 1-for-4, run
Yordan Alvarez: 1-for-4
Jose Altuve: 0-for-4
Christian Walker: 0-for-2
Game Notes
— Earlier Tuesday, a letter from Pope Leo XIV arrived at Rate Field. In the letter, dated Sept. 9, the pope thanked the organization for a letter sent following the Aug. 11 game at Rate Field and expressed his hope that the White Sox would “continue to foster bonds of friendship and solidarity among people.” The letter closed with the pope invoking “the Almighty’s abundant blessings” upon the organization and its loved ones.
— Bullard, Texas, native Hagen Smith became the fourth rookie in White Sox history to start a postseason game, joining Dane Dunning (2020), Jason Bere (1993) and Dickey Kerr (1919). At 23 years, 41 days old, Smith became the second-youngest Sox pitcher to start a playoff game, behind Bere (22 years, 136 days).
— The White Sox used an opener 31 times during the regular season, the most in the majors. Washington ranked second with 27.
What’s Next
Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series is set for 4 p.m. Wednesday at Daikin Park in Houston. Sean Burke (11-7, 3.34 ERA, 185 strikeouts) is scheduled to face Hunter Brown (6-4, 3.19 ERA, 124 strikeouts). The game will be televised on Peacock/NBCSN.
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Featured Photo: White Sox/Twitter
