The Chicago White Sox will be the No. 6 seed in the American League playoffs and play on the road against the Houston Astros in a best-of-three AL wild-card series beginning Tuesday.
The Sox’s pursuit of the AL Central title — and a first-round bye — ended Saturday, as the Cleveland Guardians won their third straight division crown and seventh in 11 years. The Guardians will be the No. 2 seed and have a first-round bye.
“Obviously don’t get the division, which is disappointing,” manager Will Venable said. “But at the same time it doesn’t take away from the fact that we’re just so proud of the group and we’re in a great spot.”
Still, advancing to the postseason for the first time since 2021 is an incredible feat for the Sox, who lost 101 games in 2023, a modern-day major-league-record 121 in 2024 and 102 last season. According to Stats Perform, only three teams previously made the playoffs the season after losing 100 games: the 2024 Royals, 2020 Miami Marlins and 2017 Minnesota Twins.
The White Sox learned their opponent following Sunday’s game, when the Astros clinched the AL West after the Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers on the final day of the regular season.
The Sox had a 2-5 record against the Astros during the regular season. They did a nice job containing Yordan Alvarez. The AL MVP candidate went 4-for-20 (.200) with one RBI, eight walks and six strikeouts in the seven games.
All the wild-card round games are played at the site of the higher-seeded team.
No. 6 White Sox at No. 3 Astros
All games on Peacock/NBCSN
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- Game 1: Tuesday, 4 p.m.
- Game 2: Wednesday, 4 p.m.
- Game 3: Thursday, TBD, if necessary
Division series
Oct. 3-10, best of five, 2-2-1 format
- No. 1 Rays vs. New York Yankees/Boston Red Sox winner
- No. 2 Guardians vs. White Sox/Astros winner
Championship series
Oct. 11-20, best of seven, 2-3-2 format
World Series
Oct. 23-31, best of seven, 2-3-2 format
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- White Sox complete rare turnaround from 100-loss team to playoff team: ‘It’s been an amazing ride’
- Miguel Vargas has come a long way since 2024 — and so have the White Sox
- How the Cubs and White Sox have fared in the postseason since 1906