The Houston Astros were riding high on an eight-game win streak as they began a three-game weekend series versus the Chicago White Sox. The streak came to an end however on Friday as the White Sox defeated the Astros 5-4 on Friday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Spencer Arrighetti was Houston’s starting pitcher on Friday night and didn’t allow a run in the first inning as he struck out leadoff hitter Nicky Lopez and then forced a groundout double play by Andrew Benintendi.
The second inning was a different story for Arrghetti as Andrew Vaughn singled into left field and Korey Lee hit a double to put runners at second and third base. Miguel Vargas walked to load the bases, and Dominic Fletcher drove in the game’s first run with an infield fielder’s choice to first base.
Chicago added to their lead in the third inning as Lopez recorded a single to the left and Luis Robert Jr. capitalized on the opportunity with a two-run home run to go up three runs. Arrighetti followed that by striking out Benintendi and Gavin sheets to end the inning.
The Astros put up their first run at the bottom of the third when Yordan Alvarez hit an RBI single into left field after Jose Altuve hit a ground rule double.
Garrett Crochet was the White Sox’s starting pitcher and only lasted four innings in Friday night’s matchup but made them count as he allowed just four hits and struck out nine Astro batters, including strikeout streaks of four and three.
Robert Jr. put up another run for Chicago in the fifth with a two-out solo shot to the front row of the Crawford Boxes. The White Sox led 4-1.
Touki Toussaint replaced Crochet to begin the fifth and didn’t give up a run in his first inning of work. The sixth didn’t go in Toussaint’s favor. The 28-year-old relief pitcher struck out Yainer Diaz and Jeremy Pena but gave up a hit to Victor Caratini and a homer to Jake Meyers to make it a one-run game. Zach Dezenzo walked and Mauricio Dubon hit a double off the left-field wall and that was enough to make the White Sox staff change pitchers. Justin Anderson came in and ended the inning with just one pitch on a Chas McCormick groundout to third.
Arrighetti lasted .2 of the fifth inning and was replaced by Caleb Ferguson. The new Astros relief pitcher walked Fletcher and Brooks Baldwin to load the bases. Lopez then lined out to Ferguson to end the the top half of the frame.
Shawn Dubin’s lone inning of work for the Astros came in the seventh when he struck out back-to-back batters to end the inning after giving up a walk and a hit by Benintendi.
Houston called Bryan King to the mound at the top of the eighth and allowed a couple of singles by Fletcher and Lopez. Skipper Joe Espada then pulled King to bring in Kaleb Ort but the 32-year-old gave up an RBI single by Robert Jr. as Fletcher made it a 5-3 game in favor of the White Sox.
Chicago’s Chad Kuhl closed out the game. Jon Singleton with two outs hit a solo home run to cut the deficit to one. Altuve couldn’t keep the comeback alive as he struck out on an outside slider and the Astros fell to the White Sox 5-4.
BIG NUMBER: 30
It has been a borderline historically bad season for the White Sox in 2024 as they came into the contest with a sub-24 % win percentage. Despite the tough year, Chicago won their 30th game on the season to improve to 30-93.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Luis Robert Jr.
The 27-year-old generated a majority of Chicago’s offense on Friday as he went 4/5 on the night with four RBI and hit two home runs as the White Sox won 5-4 and dropped the Astros’ record to 65-56.
UP NEXT: Game two between the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox is scheduled for Saturday, August 17th. First pitch at Minute Maid Park is set for 6:10. Astro launch will begin at 5:40 and the action can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.