All summer long, the American League West Division was waiting for a team to take control of it. Whoever did was likely going to survive the season, not only win it, but also they would get home-field advantage in the wild-card round. When the dust settled on the 162-game season, it was the Houston Astros that finished on top in the division.
They opened the American League wild-card round at home on Tuesday afternoon against the third and final team to make the AL field, the Chicago White Sox . Houston dropped Game 1 of their best-of-three series, 6-3.
The Astros will look to extend the series on Wednesday, but after Tuesday's loss, pitcher Bennett Sousa didn't mince words about Astros fans and the lack of noise at Daikin Park in Game 1.
Sousa, who allowed two hits and a run in one inning of work in Game 1, seemed irked by the lack of home-field advantage, with the fans not being as loud as in past postseasons.
"The fans here are definitely spoiled with a lot of ALCS and World Series runs, and we have to earn that right to bring this team back to that position," Sousa said, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic . "That being said, when this team was in their first (playoff) series 10 years ago, Minute Maid Park was probably packed. It makes a big difference. If we were in Chicago, it'd probably be loud as s—."
To be fair to the fans, in order for there to be some energy in the stands, the home team needs to give it to them. That wasn't the case on Tuesday.
First off, manager Joe Espada opted to go with a bullpen game on the mound. That is certainly a decision in the playoffs. The White Sox led 3-0 after two innings and 5-0 entering the bottom of the fifth. Nelson Velázquez had a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to finally get Houston on the scoreboard.
It didn't end up being enough. Each team added one more run for the 6-3 final. Houston had chances late in the game, but couldn't score. They went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. That's not a recipe for success.
All Houston can do now is turn the page to Game 2. They will have ace Hunter Brown on the mound. However, offensively, they will need to solve Chicago's starting pitcher Sean Burke .
"It's already in the past," Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez said, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com . "I think tomorrow we're going to hold our heads up and try to extend the series to play Thursday."
Houston won the AL West with an 81-81 record. Usually that record doesn't get a team to the MLB postseason. Furthermore, they are playing a team that won 84 games but ended up on the road. Scoring runs and getting strong pitching will make Daikin Park loud, but for a .500 team that is banged up, that's easier said than done right now.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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