Pirates reacquire Hunter Stratton from Braves

Meidroth gave Chicago a commanding four-run advantage by taking Astros high-leverage specialist Bryan Abreu deep to left field in the sixth inning. It was the first postseason homer of his career. With the victory, the White Sox swept the best-of-three series to secure their first playoff series win since their 2005 World Series championship run, punching their ticket to face the division-rival Guardians in the AL Division Series this weekend. It’s been a remarkable single-season turnaround for a White Sox club that lost over 100 games in each of the previous three years.

Altuve’s 28th career postseason home run puts him one behind Manny Ramirez for the all-time lead. He had a chance to put Houston ahead in the ensuing frame but wound up flying out to right field with the bases loaded. It’s fair to wonder how much longer Houston will be able to sustain things with its current nucleus, which is comprised largely of remnants from the dynastic run earlier in the decade, including Altuve, alongside newer faces who have yet to lead the club to sustained playoff success. In some ways, being swept by an upstart White Sox team feels like a fitting end for this group with Chicago beginning to chart its own course in a fashion reminiscent of Houston’s own unexpected rise roughly a decade ago.

Alvarez had a couple chances to turn the tide in this one, most notably when he stepped to the plate with a pair of runners on-base and the Astros trailing by two runs in the fifth inning and lined out to left field harmlessly. The 29-year-old presumptive AL MVP Award front-runner went 1-for-8 as Houston was swept in the best-of-three series in their home ballpark.

Burke was staked to a four-run lead before taking the mound and didn’t let it slip away, despite allowing three solo homers across his four innings of work. Chicago’s bullpen took things the rest of the way as Huascar Brazobán, Anthony Kay, Jordan Hicks and Erick Fedde combined to throw five shutout frames. Burke figures to get the ball for Game 2 of the AL Division Series against the Guardians on Monday.

Yikes. Brown’s unexpected meltdown came at the worst possible time for Houston and ultimately led to their elimination from the postseason. The 28-year-old ace surrendered four runs on five hits, one walk and one error, recording just two outs on 36 pitches (22 strikes) in a disastrous opening frame. He was pulled after issuing a two-out walk to Colson Montgomery to load the bases, and the damage would’ve been even worse if not for AJ Blubaugh coming on to extinguish the threat.

It’s a notable choice of words from Atkins, who stressed that Guerrero was dealing with pain and tightness while playing through back issues this past season. While he may not have been injured to the point that he would need to sit out games, the lingering physical issues clearly had an adverse impact on his performance. He also spoke about the importance of Guerrero getting his confidence back during the offseason and said he has no doubt that will happen. It doesn’t come as much consolation for fantasy managers who made Guerrero an early-round pick this past spring, but all signs point to him being healthy heading into next season. It’ll be impossible to overlook last year’s struggles, but given his raw talent and track record, it’s relatively easy to envision a bounce-back season for Guerrero, particularly from a power standpoint.

Holmes seems like the obvious choice to take the ball either as a traditional starter or bulk reliever after a lefty opener after Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle worked the first two games of the best-of-three series. It’ll be a massive spot for the 30-year-old righty to make his postseason debut with Atlanta facing elimination in a decisive Game 3 showdown at Truist Park.

Philadelphia mounted a surreal comeback with Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper homering in the eighth inning to essentially force extra-innings before Alec Bohm’s go-ahead homer kept their season alive. Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are the most logical candidates, but they could decide to give the ball to lefty Jesús Luzardo as an opener after he went five innings during Game 1 earlier this week. It’ll be an all-hands-on-deck situation regardless of who takes the ball to kick off the winner-take-all affair.

Sosa aggravated a groin injury that he suffered during Philadelphia’s regular-season finale against the Athletics over the weekend while legging out a ninth-inning single. It seems unlikely that he’ll be removed from the club’s postseason roster since that would rule him out for the NLDS as well, but the club may not have a choice depending on the severity of the issue. There should be an update on his status leading into Thursday’s winner-take-all affair at Truist Park.

Schmidt landed on the injured list with biceps neuritis during the final week of the regular season and was a long shot to make it back during the later stages of the playoffs. The 30-year-old made just one appearance in the regular-season after making it back from last year’s Tommy John surgery.