Tommy White (back) remains out of action Thursday

It wasn’t an overpowering performance, but Fried kept putting zeroes on the scoreboard, carrying a shutout into the sixth inning before coughing up a solo homer to Willson Contreras with two outs in the frame. The 32-year-old lefty finished with six strikeouts and only issued one walk. He got plenty of support from New York’s as they piled up nine runs on 14 hits in the one-sided affair. He figures to take the ball at some point in the early stages of the AL Division Series against the Rays next week.

Gray kept his former team off the scoreboard until the fourth inning when Luis García Jr. tagged him for a classic Yankee Stadium solo homer into the right-field seats. He was pulled with two outs in the fifth at just 70 pitches with Red Sox manager Chad Tracy turning to Erik Miller to face Cody Bellinger with a pair of runners on-base. The move wound up backfiring for the second consecutive game in the series as Miller immediately surrendered an RBI single to extend New York’s lead. The 36-year-old impending free agent heads to the open market after compiling a 2.72 ERA and 149/46 K/BB ratio across 169 innings during his lone season with the Red Sox.

Hernández figures to elect free agency after passing through waivers unclaimed. The 31-year-old journeyman was cut loose by Atlanta earlier this week after failing to make their playoff roster. He posted a solid 2.25 ERA across 12 innings over five appearances during the regular season. He should be able to latch on somewhere as organizational relief depth this offseason.

Vanasco passed through waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. The 27-year-old didn’t end up making an appearance for Atlanta after being claimed off waivers from the Tigers in late August.

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.