Ahhh, the sweet sound of 40,000 Houston Astros fans’ hearts breaking.

After winning Game 1 of their Wildcard Series, the White Sox jumped on the Astros in the first inning with four runs and hung on for a 7-3 win and a two-game sweep of their best of three series.

The losses drop the Astros to 81-83, giving them more losses than the Rangers.

Watching the White Sox, though, showed just how far the Rangers are away from being playoff caliber. They were patient, drew walks, went the other way, played small ball, executed double steals. In short, they played solid baseball, something the Rangers weren’t able to do during the 2026 season.

So now, the West has been eliminated from the playoffs, as it should have been—it actually should have been eliminated from baseball. Now, it’s the Central’s Cleveland Guardians against the Central’s Chicago White Sox and the East’s Tampa Bay Rays against the East’s New York Yankees.

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