Defensive Miscues Change Astros Season-Ending Loss To White Sox

The first inning was filled with two plays Astros defenders would like to have back.

Chicago White Sox catcher Kyle Teel (8), first baseman Munetaka Murakami (5), pitcher Erick Fedde (47) and third baseman Miguel Vargas (20) Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Astros bats couldn’t overcome four first inning runs by the Chicago White Sox in what would turn out to be the final game of the 2026 season for Houston. A pair of misplays changed Brown’s outing from shaky but manageable to something that the team couldn’t recover from.

Forgettable First

Sep 30, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (21) takes the ball from pitcher Hunter Brown (58) in the first inning against the Chicago White Sox during game two of the Wildcard round for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Hunter Brown got off to a pretty bad start in the first ining allowing a double to Sam Antonacci. Now this was a ball the average left fielder would most likely have caught. But the Astros had to go without their usual left fielder because Isaac Paredes couldn’t play third and needed to DH. That put Yordan Alvarez in the outfield. He ranged back, going past the jut out left-field wall to barely miss the ball off his glove. He will probably tell you he should have had it. It spiraled from there.

After another single off the bat of Kyle Teel, the White Sox led 1-0. Nick Allen, filling in for Paredes at third, stabbed at a bouncing ball to his left and misplayed it. This could have been a double play ball but ended up without a single out recorded. Unlike the Alvarez misplay, this went down on the scorecard as an error.

Bad to Worse

Brown would strike out the next batter so who knows how the inning turns out if they make those defensive plays. He followed that up by allowing three straight singles which put the score at 4-0, already more than the three runs the Astros would go on to score for the entirety of nine innings.

Non-Clutch Home Runs

Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

You could also nitpick at a problem the Astros have been having all season, not having runners on base when you hit home runs. In 2026, they hit 149 solo shots, easily tops in the majors but were only able to hit 77 multi-run home runs. They averaged 0.487 runners on per homer compared to the major league average of .580. This was on full display on Wednesday when the Astros connected on three homers, all solo shots.

Jeremy Pena had the first in what looked like a good start for the offense. Cam Smith had the second in the second inning. Then Altuve led off the fourth with his own solo shot. The Astros didn’t have too many other baserunners that they could drive in with home runs but they sure didn’t capitalize on the long ball, including in the fifth when they put runners on base for Alvarez and Altuve.

It’s difficult to pin the series loss on one person. The pitching was dreadful, the hitters couldn’t get a hit with runners on scoring position and the defense let runs come home. It was a team effort series loss and the Astros will be thinking about it all offseason.