Sparse crowd, empty seats greet .500 AL West champion Astros in playoff opener

HOUSTON (AP) — The crowd at Daikin Park was surprisingly sparse as the Houston Astros — baseball’s first division winner with a .500 or worse record — opened their Wild Card Series against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

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Large swaths of seats, especially in the upper deck, sat empty while right-hander AJ Blumbaugh delivered the game’s first pitch at 4:10 p.m.

The bottom two levels were much more filled than the upper deck, but many seats in the lower two decks were also empty.

Houston returned to the playoffs after missing out last year despite finishing 81-81. It’s the first time a team made the postseason without a winning record in a non-shortened season.

All those empty seats are a rare sight in a ballpark that is normally packed for the postseason.

The Astros averaged 30,519 fans per game during the regular season, which ranked 14th in the majors.

Houston fought through an injury-plagued season to reach the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 years. 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.

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