HOUSTON (AP) — 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 to sweep their AL Wild Card Series.

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

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.

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

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

He was 6-0 with a 2.39 ERA in six career starts against the White Sox before Wednesday’s debacle.

The Astros clawed their way back into it with solo home runs from Jeremy Peña, Cam Smith and Jose Altuve to trail by 1 entering the sixth 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. Chicago’s next baserunner came when Lambert walked Andrew Benintendi to start the sixth and then walked Tristan Peters.

Bryan Abreu came in, and Meidroth smashed his fifth pitch off the wall in left field to push the lead to 7-3. He yelled on his entire trip around the bases to the delight of a patch of White Sox fans seated near the visitor’s dugout.

Houston faced boos for a second game in a row from an unusually thin crowd. It’s a second straight playoff trip where the Astros have been swept at home in the wild card after losing both games to Detroit in 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.

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.

Altuve’s shot to the seats in left field in the fourth inning got the Astros within 4-3. It was the 28th postseason homer of his career, which is second in MLB history behind Manny Ramirez (29).

The Astros had a shot to take the lead before Meidroth’s homer. They loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, but Anthony Kay retired Altuve on a fly out to end the inning.

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