Astros Players Express Frustration Over Boos, Low Attendance in Playoff Loss

The Houston Astros expressed frustration following their 6-3 Game 1 loss to the White Sox, citing boos from the home crowd and an attendance figure that fell short of a sellout. An announced crowd of 34,011 at Dalkin Park marked a nearly 21 percent deficit for the playoff game.

Reliever Bennett Sousa described the fan base as "definitely spoiled," referencing the team's streak of seven consecutive ALCS appearances from 2017 to 2023. The Astros entered the playoffs with the worst record (81-81) of any postseason team in MLB history, having secured a spot by winning the AL West.

"As a team and as a staff, we know how we feel about our guys. And if that’s felt differently from the outside — that’s OK. We can live with that," Sousa told reporters, per The Athletic. "But as a team, we know that we lay it on the line every day. We’ve been working our ass off. We’ve been playing hard. We got in the playoffs. We just really need the support of our fans."

The team employed a bullpen game to open the series, and boos were audible early in the game. The jeers intensified by the seventh inning, at times drowning out any cheers during the Astros' attempts to rally. Opener AJ Blubaugh allowed three walks and a run in the first five batters, and Chicago added two more runs in the second inning, disrupting Houston's bullpen strategy.

Sousa, who entered in the seventh inning with the Astros trailing 5-2, allowed two baserunners immediately. He gave up a run on a wild pitch when catcher Yanier Diaz could not handle two sliders, increasing the deficit. "I’m not going to lie to you, I was pretty pissed off in the dugout when I came in, about the boos," Sousa admitted, according to The Athletic. "This team has laid a lot on the line to be in this position to give the fans a playoff game — a playoff series. We want their support."

First baseman Christian Walker echoed Sousa's sentiments, calling the situation "extremely frustrating as a home player." He added, "We’re here, playing at home; we need cheers. We need energy. We don’t need boos. What purpose does that serve in that moment? Whatever fans are feeling, we’re feeling it tenfold. We’re the ones out there. We’re the ones in the fight. We worked our butts off this whole season to put ourselves in this spot, and for guys to get booed, it’s frustrating."

While there were moments of home crowd support, they were infrequent. Star player Jose Altuve received cheers for an infield single in the eighth inning, and rookie pitcher Miguel Ullola was acknowledged for escaping a bases-loaded jam in the second. The team's ace, Hunter Brown, is scheduled to pitch in Game 2, an elimination game, but tickets were still available on the official team site as of Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Houston-based salesman Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale has placed a $515,000 wager on the Astros to win the World Series, a bet that would yield $13 million if successful.