Houston's route here was stranger. The Astros finished 81-81 and still won the AL West after a close race with Texas. Their magic number was 1 going into the regular-season finale, and they shut out the Athletics 9-0 after beating them 13-2 the night before. Yordan Alvarez was hitting .315 with 41 homers going into the final weekend, and Isaac Paredes had a 1.026 OPS for September. Houston also won the season series, going 3-1 at home against Chicago.
Both teams went 3-2 over their last 5, but they finished the season in different moods. Chicago clinched a playoff spot with a 9-1 win in Kansas City. It also let the AL Central lead it had held for much of the year slip away to Cleveland, which is why the White Sox are opening on the road. Houston has won 2 straight and took 3 of the first 4 in West Sacramento. The Astros scored 22 runs in those last 2 wins, so the offense is heading into October in good form.
Houston's injury list hits one position especially hard. Daulton Varsho (wrist), Jake Meyers (knee) and Brice Matthews (leg) are all center fielders, and all 3 are out. Carlos Correa is still on the 60-day IL with inflammation in his surgically repaired ankle. Chicago is missing Luis Castillo, who went on the IL with shoulder impingement right before the clinch. The forecast for Houston is 91 degrees, and first pitch is 4:00 PM CT in a best-of-3 where Game 1 carries a lot of weight.