{
  "id": 11091820,
  "title": "Astros' big bats fail to come through as White Sox put finishing touches on wild-card sweep",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/astros-big-bats-fail-to-come-through-as-white-sox-put-finishing",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-01T02:58:36.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/astros-big-bats-fail-to-come-through-as-white-sox-put-finishing-touches-on-wild-card-sweep-025836992.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Houston Astros faced elimination in the American League wild-card series against the Chicago White Sox after their power hitters failed to deliver. Rookie reliever AJ Blubaugh made an early mistake, walking three batters before being replaced. Star pitcher Hunter Brown also struggled in the first inning, surrendering five hits and a walk before manager Joe Espada had to replace him. Despite a trio of solo homers from Jeremy Peña, Cam Smith, and Jose Altuve, the Astros were still trailing 4-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. However, with a leadoff runner on and two outs, Yordan Alvarez stepped up to the plate against White Sox lefty Anthony Kay. After falling behind 3-0, Kay executed a perfect fastball, striking out Alvarez. Even as Houston's lineup struggled, the White Sox's powerful batting lineup secured their first postseason series victory in over two decades, marking the end of Houston's postseason run at Minute Maid Park.",
  "summary": "All year, Houston’s slug-happy lineup was able to compensate for its shoddy run prevention. But not in its two playoff games against Chicago.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "How to live stream White Sox vs Astros for free: Watch Game 2, MLB Wild Card, TV channel",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/how-to-live-stream-white-sox-vs-astros-for-free-watch-game-2-mlb-wild",
        "published": "2026-09-30T19:53:25.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}