White Sox lose ALDS to Guardians in 5 games

The Rate Field scoreboard on Oct. 7. (Photo by Jason Bauman)

The playoffs ended up mirroring the regular season quite a bit, didn't they? 

The White Sox were in first place every day from July 4 until Sept. 16. They had the Cleveland Guardians on the ropes, but they let them back in the race, and the Guardians won the American League Central by one game at the end.

The White Sox won the first two games of the American League Division series, but they let the Guardians back in it, and Cleveland won it at the end, prevailing 2-0 in the winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday night.

One thing the Sox will need to improve upon next season is their contact rate. They struck out 52 times over the final three games of the ALDS, including 21 times in Game 5. If you don't put the ball in play, you're not giving yourself a chance. 

I attended Game 3 of the series at Rate Field in Chicago, and it occurred to me that the raucous South Side crowd actually worked *against* the Sox a little bit. The fans were so excited that the players got overexcited, and they lost their approach at the plate -- chasing more bad pitches, overswinging and generally trying to be the hero, instead of taking what was given.

It was a problem in Games 4 and 5, too. It's a hard lesson for a team of mostly first- and second-year players to learn. The Guardians were the more experienced team, having been in the playoffs in three of the past four years. The moment wasn't too big for the Cleveland players. Perhaps it was a little too big for the Sox.

That said, there's nothing to be ashamed about. The Sox made a 24-game improvement over 2025. They made the playoffs. They won a playoff series for the first time since the 2005 World Series. 

There's positive momentum for the organization for the first time in a long time, and fans just have to hope they capitalize on that, as opposed to squandering it, as we've seen a few times in the past.

5 takeaways: White Sox beat Astros in wild card series

The White Sox have won a playoff series for the first time since 2005, and they have advanced to the American League Division Series for the first time since 2021.

The South Siders swept their best-of-three wild card series with the Houston Astros this week, winning Game 1, 6-3, on Tuesday and then prevailing 7-3 in Game 2 on Wednesday.

Here are five takeaways from this series:

1. Fast starts pay off. The Sox became the first team in baseball history to lead at the end of every inning in a multi-game postseason series. In Game 1, they scored one run in the first inning and two more in the second to take an early 3-0 lead. They eventually built a 5-0 lead they would never relinquish. In Game 2, the Sox scored four runs in the first, and while the Astros cut it to 4-3 at one point, they could never tie it.

It's a funny thing: I'm more nervous watching the Sox when they are ahead than when they are behind. I'm always thinking, "Please don't blow it." But despite the tension I personally feel, for the team itself, it is a better to play with a lead 100% of the time. We all know that comebacks can and do happen, but it's hard when you're trailing all the time. In this series, the Astros were constantly fighting uphill, and they could never get to the top of that hill.

2. Chase Meidroth delivers the biggest hit. In my last blog, I noted that Meidroth's step forward to legitimate everyday second baseman was one of the biggest positive developments for the Sox this season. On Wednesday, he delivered the biggest hit of his career thus far and -- in my estimation -- the biggest home run in Sox history since Jim Thome won the AL Central title for the Sox on Sept. 30, 2008.

This home run occurred 18 years later to the day. The Astros had cut the Sox lead from four runs to one when Meidroth stepped to the plate with two men on in the top of the sixth. Houston brought in its best right-handed reliever, Bryan Abreu, to face Meidroth. But Abreu fell behind in the count 3-1, and he left a slider in the middle of home plate. Meidroth capitalized with a 3-run blast to left-center that restored a four-run lead for the Sox. It would turn out to be the last run-scoring hit of the series -- a fatal blow to the Astros' hopes.

3. Jordan Hicks steps up. One of the questions I had going into the series was, could another right-handed reliever other than Grant Taylor step forward to help the Sox? The answer was yes, and Hicks was that guy. Hicks was a middle-tier reliever for the Sox this season, going 3-2 with a 3.94 ERA in 53 appearances. Respectable, but nothing earth-shattering.

But in this series, Hicks appeared in both games and was effective both times. He totaled 3.1 innings over those two appearances, retiring all 10 batters he faced, four of them by strikeout. He earned the win in Game 1, but his ability to cover two innings in Game 2 while pitching in back-to-back games was most impressive. Hicks has always had good velocity. He was firing 100-101 mph in Houston, and he was consistently in the zone. Astros hitters had no answers.

4. Miguel Vargas struggles at the plate rendered moot. The Sox won this series with minimal contributions from their best offensive player. Vargas went 0 for 9 with three strikeouts, one walk and one run scored. It didn't matter because the Sox got something from almost everyone else in a team offensive performance.

Meidroth was the biggest bat, going 4 for 7. But several players had multiple hits in the series -- Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci, Randal Grichuk, Tristan Peters, Braden Montgomery. Heck, Colson Montgomery even got in on the fun a little. The slumping shortstop had only one hit, but at least it was a solo home run in Game 1. Obviously, the Sox will need Vargas in the next round, but they papered over his lack of production in this round nicely.

5. Sweep gives the pitching staff a break. Next up for the Sox is the ALDS against the Cleveland Guardians, who received a bye through the first round. The Guardians have had a week off, and they'll be able to set up their pitching as they wish. The Sox do not have that luxury, at least not entirely, but finishing this Houston series in two games is beneficial. With no game Thursday or Friday, every pitcher will have at least two days of rest before Game 1 on Saturday in Cleveland.

Davis Martin, Noah Schultz and Bryan Hudson did not pitch at all in Houston. And while Taylor threw a season-high 54 pitches to record the final seven outs and secure the Game 1 victory, he did not need to pitch in Game 2, and he will have three days of rest before Cleveland. Ditto Hagen Smith, who tossed 38 pitches in three innings of work in the Game 1 win. Taylor and Smith are the most dynamic arms the Sox have, and both should be available for multiple innings of work Saturday, if needed.

Here's the schedule for the ALDS:

Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 3 at Cleveland, noon

Game 2: Monday, Oct. 5 at Cleveland, 4 p.m.

Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 7 at Chicago, 3 p.m.

*Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 8 at Chicago, 4 p.m.

*Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 10 at Cleveland, 4 p.m.

*if necessary

I'll be at the ballpark Wednesday. If you're going, see you there. Go Sox!