Yordan Alvarez and the Astros are out: White Sox sweep AL Wild Card

October 4, 2026

Cuban slugger Yordan Alvarez and the Houston Astros were eliminated from the 2026 postseason after a 7-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, September 30, at Daikin Park in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series. Chicago completed a two-game sweep; Alvarez finished the series 1-for-8 with no extra-base hits, according to Yahoo Sports, NBC Sports and MLB.com.

In the decisive game he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. In the fifth, with two on and Houston trailing 4-3, White Sox manager Will Venable brought in left-hander Anthony Kay to face him; Alvarez ripped a hard fly to left that Sam Antonacci caught on the warning track — Houston’s last real scoring chance.

Alvarez closed the regular season as Major League batting champion at .316, with 42 home runs and 106 RBI, and remains the AL MVP favorite. Against Chicago, though, he was just 4-for-20 in the regular season with one extra-base hit. “They did a good job and what they did worked for them,” he said after the exit, per Yahoo Sports.

The Astros reached October as AL West champions but were the first team knocked out of the 2026 playoffs. For Alvarez, a historically strong individual season ends without advancing past the Wild Card round; he said he will keep the positives from a long year.