HOUSTON — Chicago White Sox second baseman Chase Meidroth showed bunt when he batted with two on and no outs during the sixth inning of Game 2 in the American League wild-card series against the Houston Astros.
The Sox led by one run and were looking for some breathing room.
Meidroth squared around and then pulled back as pinch runner Luisangel Acuña and Tristan Peters stole third and second base, respectively.
“We just talked about do we want to bunt Chase or do we want to go ahead and try and steal these bags,” manager Will Venable said. “And we went with let’s go ahead and be aggressive and steal the bags.”
With two runners in scoring position, Meidroth worked a 3-1 count. He got a pitch to his liking and connected for a three-run home run to left field.
“I had a good feeling I got it,” Meidroth said. “(Astros reliever Bryan Abreu) has had my number all year. He’s a really good pitcher. It’s a really tough matchup. I was looking for something middle-up and I got it. I was excited to come through for my team.”
The blast helped propel the Sox to a 7-3 victory Wednesday in front of 36,015 at Daikin Park.
The Sox completed a 2-0 sweep of the wild-card matchup to advance to the American League Division Series, in which they’ll play the Cleveland Guardians. That best-of-five series begins Saturday at Progressive Field (noon, TBS).
“I’m really proud and I’m really just happy for everybody who over the last few years had experienced White Sox baseball when it obviously wasn’t at its best,” Venable said. “And it’s such a storied franchise and (Chairman) Jerry (Reinsdorf) puts so much into this team, loves this team so much, and to be able to reward him and the city of Chicago who have been in our corner and supported us from day one that I’ve been there, it just feels really good.
“I’m proud of the guys and certainly happy for them as they’re probably the only ones in this country that believed that they could be in this spot, and they maintained that belief in the beginning of the season and went throughout the season maintaining that, and they made it happen. So it’s awesome to get to this point.”
The Sox got it done Wednesday with two big offensive innings and some timely pitching.
Early on, it was all Sox as they scored four runs in the first inning.
Sam Antonacci hit a liner just out of the reach of Yordan Alvarez in left field for a leadoff double. Antonacci scored on the next pitch when Kyle Teel singled sharply to right.
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Miguel Vargas then reached on a fielding error by third baseman Nick Allen.
Munetaka Murakami struck out, but Andrew Benintendi came through with an RBI single to center field. A second run scored on the play when Lucas Spence’s throw to the plate bounced away from catcher Yainer Diaz, giving the Sox a 3-0 lead.
Benintendi then scored on Tristan Peters’ RBI single to right field, making it 4-0.
It was the last batter Astros starter Hunter Brown faced. The right-hander allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits with two strikeouts and one walk in just two-thirds of an inning.
The Astros knocked one run off the deficit quickly on a Jeremy Peña home run leading off the bottom of the first. Cam Smith homered with two outs in the second, cutting the Sox lead to 4-2.
Jose Altuve led off the fourth inning with a home run, pulling the Astros within 4-3.
Each of those home runs came against Sox starter Sean Burke. The right-hander allowed the three runs on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks in four innings.
The Astros threatened again in the fifth against Huascar Brazobán, leading to Venable calling on Anthony Kay with two on, one out and the dangerous Alvarez coming up.
“I knew I had a shot to face Alvarez today,” Kay said. “And when the phone called, it called my name and I was ready for it.”
Kay got Alvarez to line out to left field. But the threat wasn’t over.
A walk to Isaac Paredes loaded the bases for Altuve. The second baseman lined out to right field.
“To be able to get out of that spot was huge,” said Kay, who was credited with the win.
While the Astros inched closer, the Sox went cold at the plate. They didn’t have a base runner in the second, third, fourth or fifth innings.
That streak ended when Benintendi walked leading off the sixth against Peter Lambert. Peters also walked, and Abreu replaced Lambert. Meidroth greeted him with the three-run home run to left field, giving the Sox a 7-3 lead.
“Chase worked a 3-1 count, and the rest is history,” Venable said.
After two scoreless innings from Jordan Hicks, the Sox called on veteran Erick Fedde.
“I was glad they trusted me to get those final outs and glad to come through with it,” Fedde, 33, said.
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Fedde yelled after striking out Smith to end the game as the Sox earned their first postseason series victory since winning the 2005 World Series.
“It means everything for our fans,” Meidroth said. “They have been incredible all year. The main thing was getting back to Chicago for some postseason baseball, and so we’re really blessed that we get to do that.”