HOUSTON (Interstat) — The Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros 7-3 Wednesday at Daikin Park, finishing a two-game sweep of the American League Wild Card Series and moving on to the AL Division Series. The White Sox won the series 2-0. It was Game 2 of the playoff series. Chicago, the visiting team, improved to 86-78, while Houston, the home team, finished 81-83. The announced attendance was 36,015, and the game took 3:05. The White Sox advance to face Cleveland in the AL Division Series. Chicago won the season series between the AL Central rivals 7-6, but the Guardians won the division by one game and will have home-field advantage. Cleveland also features one of the top closers in the game in Cade Smith. For the White Sox, the victory marked their first playoff series win in more than two decades. Their last such series victory came in a four-game World Series sweep of Houston at what is now Daikin Park.

Chicago wasted little time setting the tone. In the top of the first, Sam Antonacci doubled to center field, deflected by left fielder Yordan Alvarez. Kyle Teel followed with a single to right that scored Antonacci. Miguel Vargas reached on a fielding error by third baseman Nick Allen, moving Teel to second. After Munetaka Murakami struck out swinging, Andrew Benintendi lined a two-run single to center that scored Teel and Vargas. Benintendi advanced to second on a throwing error by center fielder Lucas Spence. Tristan Peters then singled to right, scoring Benintendi. Chase Meidroth added a single to left before Braden Montgomery struck out and Colson Montgomery walked. Antonacci grounded out to end the inning, but Chicago had a 4-0 lead.

Houston answered in the bottom of the first when Jeremy Peña homered to left-center. Yordan Alvarez struck out, Isaac Paredes popped out in foul territory, Jose Altuve singled to left, and Yainer Diaz struck out swinging. The Astros added another run in the bottom of the second on Cam Smith’s homer to left. Christian Walker struck out and Lucas Spence grounded out before Smith connected, then Nick Allen popped out to second. Houston pulled closer in the bottom of the fourth when Altuve homered to left. Diaz struck out, Walker flew out to left, and Spence struck out on a foul tip. The three solo homers accounted for all of Houston’s scoring.

Sean Burke started for Chicago and allowed three earned runs on four hits over four innings, striking out eight. Erick Fedde followed with two hitless innings and three strikeouts. Jordan Hicks also threw two hitless innings with three strikeouts. Anthony Kay earned the win with two-thirds of an inning and one walk. Huascar Brazobán recorded one out and one strikeout while allowing one hit. Chicago pitchers combined for 18 strikes, 58 balls and 18 balls in play. Houston pitchers combined for 21 strikes, 55 balls and 21 balls in play.

The decisive swing came in the sixth. After Andrew Benintendi and Tristan Peters drew walks, Chase Meidroth hit a three-run homer to left field. Luisangel Acuña scored, and Peters scored. The blast gave Chicago a 7-3 lead and capped the scoring. Meidroth finished 2-for-3 with one home run and three RBI, the top offensive performance of the game for Chicago. He also singled in the first inning and had been swinging well in recent games, with multiple hits in several of his previous starts. Houston’s Bryan Abreu worked 2 2/3 innings in relief, allowing one hit and one earned run with one walk and six strikeouts. Peter Lambert threw three innings, allowing no hits and two earned runs with two walks and two strikeouts. AJ Blubaugh pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings with two strikeouts. Josh Hader allowed two hits in 1 1/3 scoreless innings with one strikeout. Hunter Brown took the loss and finished the season with a 6-5 record. Anthony Kay improved to 11-9.

Chicago finished with eight hits, while Houston had five. The White Sox bullpen kept the Astros off the scoreboard after the fourth. In the middle innings, Chicago’s offense quieted against Houston’s relief corps. Kyle Teel struck out in the second, Miguel Vargas flew out to right, and Murakami struck out. Benintendi, Peters and Meidroth went down in order in the third. Braden Montgomery, Colson Montgomery and Antonacci were retired in the fourth. Teel, Vargas and Murakami went down in the fifth. Houston put together a threat in the bottom of the fifth when Cam Smith was hit by a pitch, Nick Allen struck out, Jeremy Peña singled to left, Yordan Alvarez lined out to left, and Isaac Paredes walked to load the bases. Jose Altuve then flew out to right, ending the threat.

In the late innings, Colson Montgomery, Brenton Doyle, Kyle Teel and Miguel Vargas had opportunities, but Chicago could not add more. Houston’s best late threat came in the eighth when Isaac Paredes was hit by a pitch, but Jose Altuve struck out and Yainer Diaz flew out to left. In the ninth, Christian Walker struck out, Lucas Spence flew out sharply to center, and Cam Smith struck out swinging to end it. The White Sox have been one of the best stories in baseball this season, shaking off three straight 100-plus loss campaigns to reach the playoffs. Now they move on in the postseason as more than a young, energetic squad. They will see better starting pitching and one of the best closers in the game in Cleveland, but the Guardians will see a team that looked nearly unstoppable in the Wild Card Series.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chicago White Sox 7, Houston Astros 8. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Houston with a 51.9 percent probability to win. Houston had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 10 went under the over/under line of 7.5.