Houston vs. Chicago
The Astros won the season series with the White Sox, 5–2. This was the second postseason meeting between the franchises. Their previous postseason meeting was in the
2005 World Series, when the Astros were members of the
National League, won by the White Sox in a four-game sweep. This was the second time for a prior World Series matchup to occur in either a Wild Card Game, Division Series or League Championship Series. The first such instance was in the
2011 National League Championship Series, during which the
St. Louis Cardinals defeated the
Milwaukee Brewers, 4–2, in a rematch of the
1982 World Series. This was the first time in franchise history the White Sox have appeared in the postseason in consecutive seasons, while this was the fifth straight postseason appearance for the Astros. As of the 2021 postseason,
Tony La Russa (aged 77) and
Dusty Baker (aged 72) were the oldest managers in MLB. Including their 2021 postseason appearances, La Russa and
Joe Torre were tied for the second-most playoff appearances as managers, with 15, while Baker was next on the list with 11. The only prior time Baker's and La Russa's teams faced each other in the postseason was in the
2002 National League Championship Series, when Baker's Giants defeated La Russa's Cardinals in five games. Despite their lone postseason match-up, Baker and La Russa share a long history, having known each other for 50 years. As La Russa was winding down his playing career, he spent a season in Atlanta where a young Baker was just starting his playing career with the
1971 Braves. The two men also spent a season together on the
1986 Athletics, when Baker was ending his playing career and La Russa was on his second managerial job. As managers, Baker and La Russa both competed in the
NL Central from 2003 to 2006 and again from 2008 to 2011. In 2014, when each manager was out of the game for a time, they made peace with each other upon conversations spent with
Dave Stewart, who worked for both managers as a player, manager, and general manager.
Game 1 was the winning pitcher in Game 1. Amidst a plethora of fastballs from
Lance Lynn (who threw the highest rate of them since pitches have been tracked in 2008) against a team that batted the best against the pitch, the Astros rocked five runs off Lynn before he left in the fourth inning, starting on an RBI single from rookie
Jake Meyers.
Alex Bregman drove in what turned out to be the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice that scored
Jose Altuve, who slid just by the catcher's foot and tag.
Lance McCullers Jr. pitched his first game of the 2021 season without a walk, going 6 innings with four hits and zero runs (becoming the first Astro with six scoreless innings and no walks since
Brandon Backe in
2005).
Yordan Alvarez went 2-for-3 while driving in two runs, which included a home run.
Game 2 hit the only home run of Game 2.
Framber Valdez was matched against
Lucas Giolito. Each pitcher would fail to reach the fifth inning. The Astros rallied for five runs in the seventh inning when eight batters went to the plate, with
Yordan Alvarez hitting a liner past second base to break the 4–4 tie. With two outs,
Carlos Correa then lined a ball past right fielder
Leury Garcia for a two-run double and
Kyle Tucker capped the game with a home run. With the Astros win, it marked the fifth consecutive Division Series in which they won the first two games, a feat matched by no team in the past 25 years. Dubiously, the White Sox became the first team in Major League history with at least 15 hits with none for
extra bases in the first two games of a postseason, having accrued 18 singles.
Game 3 hit a 3-run home run in Game 3. The White Sox won Game 3, 12–6, to avoid elimination. Both starting pitchers,
Luis García for Houston and
Dylan Cease for Chicago, exited before the end of the third inning, having allowed five runs and three runs, respectively. Houston had a 5–1 lead in the middle of the third inning, but Chicago scored five in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. The Astros tied the game, 6–6, in the top of the fourth, which the White Sox answered with three runs for a 9–6 lead. The only other scoring in the game was three runs by Chicago in the bottom of the eighth, for the 12–6 final. The White Sox outhit the Astros, 16–6, led by
Tim Anderson who had three hits;
Leury García had a home run and four RBIs, while
Yasmani Grandal also homered and had three RBIs.
Kyle Tucker homered for the Astros, his second of the series.
Game 4 Game 4 was originally scheduled for October 11, but was postponed a day due to rain. hit a 3-run home run to close out Game 4. After being postponed by inclement weather the day before,
Lance McCullers Jr. was tabbed as the starter for Houston while
Carlos Rodón was the Game 4 starter for the White Sox attempting to save their season and force a Game 5 in Houston the next day. Rodón looked sharp early, breezing through the first two innings on 26 pitches.
Gavin Sheets homered in the bottom of the second to start the scoring, but the Astros would answer right back in the top of the third with a
Carlos Correa bases-loaded double to bring it 2–1 and knocking Rodón out of the game. The Astros never looked back as they added on in the top of the fourth with an RBI single from
Martin Maldonado and an RBI double from
Alex Bregman to make it 5–1. McCullers got out of a jam in the bottom of the inning by striking out
César Hernández looking. The White Sox would not have a runner in scoring position for the rest of the game. McCullers would be replaced by Yimi Garcia in the fifth due to forearm tightness.
Michael Brantley added two insurance runs with RBI singles in the sixth and eighth innings before Jose Altuve capped off the day with a three-run homer in the top of the ninth.
Ryan Pressly got Hernández to ground out and send the Astros to their fifth straight ALCS appearance. The Astros became the first team since the 1995–1999 Atlanta Braves, and only the third team in MLB history, to make five straight LCS appearances, the first being the 1971–1975 Oakland Athletics. Altuve's home run in the ninth tied him with
George Springer for the most career postseason home runs in Astros history, and moved him up to a tie for fourth place on the all-time leader board with Springer and
Albert Pujols, with 19. The nine-run victory was the largest winning margin ever recorded by a team in a clinching game of the American League Division Series. With starts by Altuve, Bregman, Correa, and
Yuli Gurriel, they played their 60th postseason game together, the most by a quartet of teammates in major league history.
Composite line score 2021 ALDS
(3–1):
Houston Astros beat
Chicago White Sox ==See also==