Houston - Playoff baseball is in full effect as wild card games finish and the divisional series begins. The Chicago White Sox head to Houston looking for their first playoff win in over a decade. As for the Astros, they are looking to make their fourth appearance in the ALCS since 2017.

It was the battle of the Lances as Lance Lynn and Lance McCullers Jr. took the mound for their respective teams. However, only one Lance would go the distance. Lance McCullers Jr. could not have thrown a better game Thursday for the Astros as he shoved for 6.2 innings, allowing only 4 hits and no runs.

White Sox Struggles

The Chicago White Sox had no answers against McCullers as the White Sox would ground out 12 out of their 27 outs. They could not get into a rhythm as they would leave 8 men on base in game 1. Their first run came in the top half of the 8th inning when Jose Abreu singled, bringing in Tim Anderson—cutting the lead down to five as the Astros led 6-1.

Hitting was not their biggest issue as Lance Lynn threw 97% fastballs against the best fastball hitting, which would be the highest percentage of fastballs used in a playoff series since 2008. Lance Lynn was taken out in the fourth inning after giving up 5 runs in 3.2 innings pitched. Head Coach Tony La Russa should have yanked Lynn in the third inning after giving up his third run.

Hot Bats In Houston

The MLB Playoffs is one of the most magical events in the world of sports. An unknown player steps up in October to help rally his team to the World Series. Rookie Jake Meyers might be that guy for the Astros as he made his playoff debut on Thursday.

Meyers would kick start the Astros dominating night with an RBI single in the bottom of the second. Meyers would go on to end the night with 2 hits, an RBI, and a run.

The rest of Houston's bats came alive as six of their nine hitters recorded a hit. Four of those six would finish with multiple hits. Yordan Alvarez was a big part of Houston's rally in the bottom of the third, hitting an off-the-wall double bringing in a run. Then in the fifth, he hit a solo home run putting the Astros up 6-0. Alvarez contributed to 4 of Houston's 6 runs and was a significant piece of the Astros game 1 dominance.

Astros Win 6-1

What's Next

Game 2 will be on Friday, October 8 at 2:07 p.m. ET on MLB Network.