HOUSTON — Colson Montgomery slugged his first career postseason home run while Braden Montgomery and Chase Meidroth recorded multi-hit games as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros 6-3 on Tuesday in Game 1 of this American League wild-card series.
The White Sox took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series with Game 2 set for Wednesday in Houston. Chicago last won a postseason series when it swept the Astros in the 2005 World Series.
The White Sox and Astros utilized openers in Game 1. The ensuing results were vastly different.
Astros rookie right-hander AJ Blubaugh (0-1) did not survive the top of the first inning. He walked Sam Antonacci, Miguel Vargas and Andrew Benintendi in the frame, with Antonacci scoring via a Munetaka Murakami sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. Astros left-hander Bryan King replaced Blubaugh after the Benintendi walk and struck out Tristan Peters to limit the damage, but the White Sox continued their momentum in the second when the first five batters reached.
After allowing hits to Braden Montgomery (2-for-4) and Meidroth, King hit Colson Montgomery with a pitch to load the bases. Antonacci then stroked a two-run single, building the lead to 3-0.
White Sox rookie left-hander Hagen Smith, meanwhile, worked three scoreless innings in his second career start overall and first in the postseason. He worked around Isaac Paredes’ two-out single in the bottom of the first and, after retiring the Astros in order in the second, stranded Cam Smith on third after Smith opened that frame with an opposite-field single to right.
Colson Montgomery led off the fourth with a 432-foot blast to straightaway center off Astros right-hander Miguel Ullola. Montgomery slugged 31 homers during the regular season but hit ninth on Tuesday after slashing .065/.194/.097 with 34 strikeouts over his last 19 games.
Murakami walked and scored when Meidroth (2-for-4) delivered a bases-loaded single in the fifth for a 5-0 lead. Murakami singled and scored on a wild pitch in the seventh.
Nelson Velazquez smacked a pinch-hit, two-run homer off Chicago left-hander Sean Newcomb in the fifth. Jeremy Pena scored on a two-out throwing error by Vargas in the eighth.
White Sox closer Grant Taylor closed it out, throwing 54 pitches over 2 1/3 innings. Jordan Hicks (1-0), the second of five Chicago pitchers, earned the win.
