A pair of unlikely playoff teams collide as the Astros face the White Sox in AL Wild Card Series

HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astros are the first team to reach the postseason without a winning record.

The Chicago White Sox are the only team in major league history to follow consecutive 100-loss seasons with a playoff berth.

Now these two improbable playoff teams will meet in a best-of-three AL Wild Card Series starting Tuesday in Houston.

The Astros are led by AL MVP favorite Yordan Alvarez, who won the AL batting title, ranked second with 106 RBIs and was tied for second with 42 homers.

Chicago features three 30-homer stars, led by Japanese rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami, who hit 35, Miguel Vargas with 33 and Colson Montgomery, who had 31.

The White Sox lost at least 100 games in each of the past three seasons, with the low point coming when they dropped 121 games in 2024, setting the record for most losses since 1900. Will Venable took over as manager before last season and Chicago went 60-102 in 2025 before this season's huge turnaround to 84-78 that was enough to earn the final American League wild card.

“There was a moment (Sunday) after the game where we just paused for a second and said, hey, we understand we have the playoffs coming up, we understand this is all behind us as far as the regular season, but we’re proud of the fact that we were able to get 84 wins and all the progress that has really led to that,” Venable said Monday.

Though the Astros didn’t clinch their playoff berth until Sunday, going 81-81 to outlast Texas for the AL West title, their recent history is much different than that of the White Sox.

Houston fought through an injury-plagued season to reach the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 years after missing out last season. It’s a remarkable stretch in which the Astros reached the American League Championship Series seven straight times from 2017-23 and advanced to the World Series four times, winning championships in 2017 and 2022.

“I’ve been here for almost a decade and just how this team just rallies around adversity — they don’t run from it. They actually run to it,” manager Joe Espada said. “They know that it’s going to happen. And watching them choose not to fold, they choose to fight, they choose to help one another, is very satisfying. It brings joy to see … their best version when things get tougher.”

Espada's contract expires at season's end and owner Jim Crane said Monday the team’s playoff berth will be “something to consider" when deciding on the skipper's future.

The White Sox return to the playoffs for the first time since 2021, when they were eliminated by the Astros in four games in their Division Series.

Houston’s last trip to the postseason was a short one when the team was swept by the Detroit Tigers in a 2024 Wild Card Series.

The Astros are hoping to make a lot more noise this time around.

“Everyone starts from zero,” shortstop Jeremy Peña said. “The records in the regular season, they don’t matter now. Everyone’s starting from scratch, and it’s a short tournament. So, (let’s) see what happens.”

Both teams will go with a bullpen game in Tuesday’s series opener. The Astros will open with rookie AJ Blubaugh and the White Sox haden’t said who will open for them.

“Depending on how some guys feel and as we are trying to match up availability with how these guys are feeling, we’ll map it out a little bit more with more certainty,” Venable said. “But you can expect more of a bullpen-type game from us.”

The 26-year-old Blubaugh is 8-4 with a 3.16 ERA in 11 appearances with three starts across two seasons.

Alvarez led the majors and set a franchise record with 33 intentional walks this season. When teams first began issuing Alvarez free passes, Isaac Paredes, who bats behind him, felt it.

“I felt like they were kind of disrespecting me as a hitter,” Paredes said in Spanish through a translator. “But I felt as the season went on, I stopped taking it personal because Yordan is truly the greatest hitter right now in baseball so there was no reason for me to take it as a lack of respect towards myself.”

Paredes fouled a ball off his knee Saturday and played Sunday despite being sore. But he said he was feeling great on Monday and doesn’t think it will affect him in Game 1.

He ranks third on the team with 25 home runs, and his 94 RBIs are second.

The 26-year-old Murakami signed a two-year, $34 million deal in December to join the White Sox after they paid a $6,575,000 posting fee to the Yakult Swallows.

He’s thrilled to be in the postseason during his first year in the majors after spending eight years playing in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan.

“I’m here (in) the postseason. ... I feel really excited,” he said in Japanese through a translator. “It’s just a feeling that I always dreamed about, so I’m just truly excited to be here and really happy to be here.”

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Houston Astros' Isaac Paredes follows through on a double against the Seattle Mariners during the first inningof a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas celebrates on first after hitting an RBI single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Houston Astros manager Joe Espada looks to the field before a baseball game against the Athletics, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sara Nevis)

Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami, of Japan, celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) hits an RBI single in the first inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Kevin Ng)

PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico (AP) — Wind whipped Mexico’s northern Pacific coast and water began to flood some streets Monday as Hurricane Polo bore down on Baja California Sur, threatening flash floods and mudslides. Meanwhile, Hurricane Nolo could still bring torrential rain to parts of Hawaii even as the storm edges away from the state.

In Puerto San Carlos, a fishing town of about 5,700 people, high tides and pounding waves from Polo were breaching sea barriers as residents worried for their homes in the mostly empty town. Hundreds of people in the region evacuated, hunkering down in nearby shelters in schools and other facilities.

“Civil Protection told those of us here in San Carlos to evacuate because this is a high-risk area. With the current tides, the expected waves and the wind, the earthen barriers they built (to prevent flooding) could give way,” Rocío Sánchez, a fisherwoman, said.

Polo was a Category 3 storm with top sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph) Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It's expected to produce 6-12 inches (about 15 to 30 centimeters) of rain across parts of Baja California Sur.

Forecasters said it would hit the Mexican mainland after lashing Baja California Sur, and that life threatening winds and flash floods were expected. It could bring heavy rain and flooding to parts of the U.S. Southwest later in the week.

The government of the northern Mexican state of Sonora on Monday night announced it would suspend all “non-essential” activities, including school, sports and non-essential work, in the state capital and more than a dozen municipalities due to the incoming hurricane.

Residents in Baja California Sur were anxiously bracing themselves. Margarita Bobadilla and her family were sheltered in a local school, saying it was safer than weathering the storm in her wooden house.

“Material things can be replaced, but family can’t. My children and I decided to come here last night, and now we’re waiting to see what happens.”

Others lingered in their mostly emptied town of Puerto San Carlos, crossing their fingers the light flooding and powerful winds would be the worst of Polo.

Laura Velázquez, national coordinator of Mexico’s Civil Protection Agency, reported that Polo would make landfall later in the afternoon. With Polo approaching Mexico, the Mexican navy said it had personnel ready across the northern Pacific coast and deployed three vessels that could ship aid to coastal communities isolated by the storm. Local authorities along the Baja California Peninsula said they had shelters at the ready.

At a Monday morning news briefing, Velázquez urged residents to stay off the streets and seek shelter if their homes are at risk. She said travel will be suspended in the area where the hurricane was expected to make landfall and that ports across the region would be closed.

At the same time, Tropical Storm Rachel was brewing over Mexico’s southwest coast. The hurricane center said Monday that Rachel had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (96.6 kph) and was located about 250 miles (402.3 kilometers) southwest of Acapulco. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect.

Storm activity in the Pacific has been above average during what is already the peak of hurricane season, according to National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Oravec. He said that pattern is consistent with El Niño years, when the Pacific often sees more tropical storms and hurricanes.

While Polo is slated to weaken over northern Mexico, tropical weather was also supposed to deal a one-two punch to the U.S. Southwest.

The region has already been saturated by heavy rain over the past months, and regions like New Mexico and Grand Canyon were hit by devastating floods earlier this month. Now, the remnants of Polo are forecast to track east across the region, expected to douse Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Texas with inches of rain.

That’s a good chunk of the 8-12 inches (about 20-30 centimeters) the arid area of canyons and rocky expanses with little vegetation usually gets in a year. Such terrain is already conducive to flash flooding, sudden torrents that can sweep down canyons and other low-lying areas with little warning. The new tropical weather adds more risk, said Andrew Mangham, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.

“We’re getting caught up here in a very, very short time,” Mangham said. “And that’s not really what we want. We want nice rains, you know, all summer long.”

Nolo, meanwhile, was well southwest of Hawaii and moving away from the Big Island as the weekend drew to a close. Nolo drenched communities in south and southeastern parts of the Big Island over the weekend, prompting some highway closures on Saturday evening and Sunday as rushing water and boulders blocked roadways.

Hawaii National Guard members rescued 19 people from flooding over the weekend, the U.S. National Guard said in a post on Facebook.

Damage assessments are still underway as Nolo moves northwest. While it's keeping its distance from the main Hawaiian Islands, it's approaching Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a marine conservation area northwest of the islands, according to the National Hurricane Center. It could bring dangerous conditions to the area starting Tuesday, the center reported.

Thousands of households and businesses on Maui lost power for a time, but by Monday afternoon, service had been restored to nearly all of them, according to poweroutage.us. The majority of the outages were related to storm damage, according to statements from Hawaiian Electric.

Hawaii residents were still recovering from several other natural events this year, including spring Kona low storms, a May earthquake, Hurricane Lala in August and Hurricane Lowell in September. Those events affected more than 1,290 homes, according to the state, and caused nearly $700 million in damage and recovery costs.

Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Photojournalist Eduardo Verdugo contributed from Puerto San Carlos, Mexico, reporter Julie Walker reported from New York, reporter Mead Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado. Videojournalist Eugene Garcia and photographer Gregory Bull contributed from Hilo, Hawaii.

Residents are evacuated by the Army as Hurricane Polo approaches Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

People evacuate their homes as Hurricane Polo approaches Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Nolo, left, south of Hawaii; Hurricane Odalys, middle, and Hurricane Polo, right, off the coast of Mexico, in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (NOAA via AP)

Workers build a barricade to help keep water out of their town as Hurricane Polo approaches in Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A man boards up a house's windows as Hurricane Polo approaches in Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Workers build a barricade to help keep water out of their town as Hurricane Polo approaches in Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Peggy McKibbin looks at where floodwaters from nearby Hurricane Nolo run past widespread damage from last month's Hurricane Lala Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Naalehu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Fire Captain Lui Sales of the Hawaii Fire Department looks for residents to help as rainwater from nearby Hurricane Nolo flood a section of Mamalahoa highway Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, near Naalehu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A man rides with his son near where a home was destroyed during last month's Hurricane Lala, as floodwaters from Hurricane Nolo recedes Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Naalehu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)