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Astros pitcher was 'pretty pissed off' about home fans booing during loss to White Sox
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- Astros pitcher was 'pretty pissed off' about home fans booing during loss to White Sox
Astros pitcher was 'pretty pissed off' about home fans booing during loss to White Sox originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Entering the postseason at 81-81 but winning the AL West, the Houston Astros were able to host the Wild Card round, with their first matchup coming up against the Chicago White Sox .
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But in Game 1 of the series on Tuesday afternoon, the Astros lost the series opener, 6-3, and now face elimination on Wednesday in Game 2 of the series.
During the loss at home, the Astros' faithful poured boos onto the field, leading to Bennett Sousa , a recipient of some of the loudest boos of the day, sharing after the game with Chandler Rome of The Athletic that he was "pretty pissed off" about the fans booing him.
Astros' Bennett Sousa was 'pretty pissed off' at fans for boos
"I'm not going to lie to you, I was pretty pissed off in the dugout when I came in, about the boos," Sousa said. "This team has laid a lot on the line to be in this position to give the fans a playoff game -- a playoff series. We want their support."
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Sousa got a lot of boos from the home crowd after throwing wild pitches that let the sixth run of the game score, and later led to Colson Montgomery reaching first base after he swung through strike three on a pitch that reached the backstop.
The home crowd booing their own players isn't an uncommon trend, especially for some of the biggest sports cities around, with the New York, Boston , Philadelphia , and Chicago markets sharing their displeasure routinely if things are going wrong.
But for Sousa and the Astros, these boos in the 6-3 loss that puts their 2026 season on the brink of ending were not received well at all.
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It's hard for any kind of boos to be well received, but in this instance, there was a lot of frustration from the Astros, and it wasn't just Sousa who was not a fan of the hometown crowd's reaction.
Christian Walker shared with Rome that, "It's extremely frustrating as a home player. We're here, playing at home; we need cheers. We need energy. We don't need boos."
Of course, the fans won't cheer on poor play. But Walker, Sousa, and likely other Astros players would maybe prefer the home fans to be quiet if things are going wrong.
The boos do typically make things worse, but for fans who paid for tickets to see their favorite team play in the postseason, the only thing that likely matters is what's being performed in front of them in the moment.
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So, when the Astros go down a few runs, and then Sousa lets a runner score after a wild pitch, the boos should not be a surprise.
Still, Sousa was "pretty pissed off" about those boos, and Walker was not a fan of them either. To avoid getting another round of boos, the Astros are going to have to win in Game 2 against the White Sox, pushing it to a winner-takes-all Game 3.
