A year ago the White Sox finished 60-102, their third straight season with more than 100 losses. On Wednesday they finished a two-game sweep of the Houston Astros, their first postseason series win since the 2005 World Series, which also came against Houston. Next up is the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, starting Saturday at Progressive Field.

How they got here

Chicago went 84-78 and clinched a playoff spot on Sept. 24, its first since 2021. The White Sox held the AL Central lead for much of the season before Cleveland passed them late and won the division by a single game at 85-77. That one game is why Chicago had to play the Wild Card round while the Guardians rested, and why Cleveland has home-field advantage in this series.

The Wild Card sweep was convincing: 6-3 in Game 1 and 7-3 in Game 2, with Chase Meidroth’s three-run homer sealing the clincher and Anthony Kay and Erick Fedde combining for nearly three hitless innings of relief.

The matchup

Power against pitching. The White Sox hit 211 home runs, fifth in the majors, and ranked eighth in slugging percentage at .406. Slugging measures total bases per at-bat, so it rewards extra-base hits rather than singles. It describes a lineup that can change a game with one swing, and production from the bottom of the order against Houston suggests the threat runs deeper than Munetaka Murakami and Miguel Vargas.

Bullpens are close. Chicago’s relievers posted a 3.70 ERA, eighth in baseball, and Cleveland’s ranked sixth at 3.54. ERA is earned runs allowed per nine innings, and a gap that small means neither team has a clear late-inning edge on paper. The exception is Cleveland closer Cade Smith, who had a 1.95 ERA and tied for the major-league lead with 41 saves. The practical implication for Chicago is that leads built early in games matter more than usual.

Starting pitching depth. The off days in a best-of-five series let Cleveland line up Gavin Williams and Parker Messick to pitch twice each if the series goes long. Chicago’s hitters have seen both plenty, though: the two clubs met 13 times in the regular season.

The home-and-road question

The White Sox went 48-33 at home and 36-45 on the road. With Games 1, 2 and a potential Game 5 in Cleveland, the swing game may be one of the first two. Winning one in Cleveland would send the series back to Chicago with the White Sox holding home field for Games 3 and 4, where they went 48-33 this year.

The schedule

Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 3, at Cleveland, noon CT (TBS, truTV, HBO Max)
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 5, at Cleveland, 4 p.m. CT
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Chicago
Game 4 (if necessary): Thursday, Oct. 8, at Chicago
Game 5 (if necessary): Saturday, Oct. 10, at Cleveland

However far this run goes, the distance traveled in one season is already remarkable. A team that lost 102 games a year ago is now three wins from the American League Championship Series.