Holy cow, you won’t believe what went down in Houston. The Astros just dropped Game 1 of their best-of-three wild-card series against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday, taking a 6-3 loss, and relief pitcher Bennett Sousa didn’t hold back afterward. He flat-out ripped into the home crowd, calling them “spoiled” for their reaction to the defeat. Talk about a post-game bombshell!
“Spoiled With ALCS and World Series Runs”: The History Lesson From Sousa
Sousa basically gave Houston fans a history lesson after getting booed off the mound. He told The Athletic’s Chandler Rome, “The fans here are definitely spoiled with a lot of ALCS and World Series runs, and we have to earn that right to bring this team back to that position.” He didn’t stop there either. Sousa pointed out how electric Minute Maid Park was back in 2015 when the Astros clinched an American League wild-card berth. That was a shocker then, coming off 100-loss seasons from 2011-13 and 92 losses in 2014. A young George Springer, Carlos Correa, and Jose Altuve were just starting to steal wins, even in a five-game Division Series loss to the eventual World Series champion Royals. Sousa totally feels like those fans were different, saying, “when this team was in their first (playoff) series 10 years ago, Minute Maid Park was probably packed. It makes a big difference. If we were in Chicago, it’d probably be loud as s,.”
Now, 11 years later, the shoe’s on the other foot. The White Sox are the ones coming in after three consecutive 100-loss seasons, playing their first postseason game in five years. But the Astros have hosted postseason baseball ten times in the last twelve seasons since that 2014 run. So when the boos started falling like daggers after a Game 1 loss, Sousa clearly took it personally, feeling that the current fans have forgotten what it was like for the team to earn their way.
Sousa’s Performance and the Boo Birds
Look, Sousa himself didn’t exactly quiet the crowd’s negative vibes. He came in and allowed two hits and one run in the seventh inning of that 6-3 loss. According to Rome, the boos started way earlier in the game, within the first two innings of what was a bullpen game for both teams. But they definitely reached a “dull roar” when Sousa spiked two consecutive sliders in that seventh inning. It’s wild to hear a player go off on his own fans like that, especially after their first postseason loss in a series. It sets a pretty tense tone, doesn’t it?
So, what’s next? Hunter Brown is set to take the mound for Houston in Game 2 of the best-of-five series Wednesday, facing Sean Burke from Chicago. You know the pressure is on after Sousa’s comments and that Game 1 loss. It’ll be fascinating to see how the crowd reacts and if the Astros can even things up in this series.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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