The 2026 Chicago White Sox slipped in September and lost the American League Central to the Cleveland Guardians. This means the Sox got the six-seed and a wild-card spot and will have to head to Texas to play the Houston Astros. All three games in the best two-out-of-three series will be home games for Houston.
How can the White Sox, who went 2-5 against Houston in the regular season and lost three of four in Houston manage to advance? Here's a few ways, both in terms of tactics and mindset, that the Sox can move on to the Division Series and attempt to enact revenge on the Guardians.
Remember, It's A Reset
The regular season is over. The slate is clean. What happened in the division race no longer matters, nor does what happened versus Houston. The records are 0-0 and the Sox just need to win two of three. Also, Houston won fewer games than the White Sox.
Win The First One
This always applies to a best two-of-three -- get that first win to avoid having a must-win in game two. Easier said than done, especially on the road, but necessary.
Have Smart At-Bats
The White Sox struggled to score with runners in scoring position (RISP) during a September swoon, and the team has occasionally been prone to striking out with RISP. Take pitches, don't chase, be patient, foul off close pitches -- yes, it's hitting 101, but doing these things will increase the chances of the big hit.
Learn The Ballpark
Daikin Park is annoyingly quirky, but there's no reason to allow it to give Houston a home-field advantage. Right-handed White Sox sluggers like Miguel Vargas and Chase Meidroth need to find the Crawford boxes for cheap homers, and whoever is playing left field needs to learn how to deal with balls hit off of that tall, short wall. Also, Sox pitchers need to do what they can to avoid giving up cheap homers to Houston righties.
Don't let Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez beat you
The Sox have corralled all-world hitter Alvarez all season. Baez did get a cheap home run to left in the last series. If White Sox pitchers can avoid giving up meatball pitches to these guys, that will help. That said, the Sox still do need to worry about others, such as Cam Smith.
Pitch Aggressively And Avoid Walks
Sox starting pitching has been inconsistent all season. The bullpen is generally effective but has blown some leads, and some of those losses were inexplicable. One thing that has been a common dominator when either end of the staff has struggled -- walks. If the Sox can attack the strike zone and avoid walks, they should be able to limit the damage that Houston hitters can do.
Slug
It's the team strength, and with Munetaka Murakami getting hot, it could carry the Sox past the Astros. That's slug, or the ability to hit homers and extra-base hits. If the Sox lean into the best part of their team game in a hitter-friendly ballpark, they could be moving on.
Play Clean Baseball
We'll end with the Sox's biggest bugaboo. This team has had flaws -- inconsistent starting pitching, a solid bullpen that occasionally falters, an offense that depends a little too much on slug and doesn't always string hits together, and too many strikeouts. Yet the biggest problem has been defensive miscues. Not necessarily errors -- missed cutoff men isn't a tracked stat. Errors have been an issue, too, though. If the Sox catch the ball and make smart decisions on where to throw it, they won't give a dangerous Houston offense extra outs.
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