ASTROS LOSE, 4-2
Missed opportunities haunt Astros in series opener
Jun 10, 2025, 11:22 pm
The White Sox beat the Astros, 4-2. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.
Luis Robert Jr. homered, Shane Smith pitched six effective innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros 4-2 on Tuesday night.
Edgar Quero had two RBIs as last-place Chicago won for the fourth time in five games.
Robert hit a run-scoring double in the second and his sixth homer in the fourth, a solo drive to left-center off Lance McCullers Jr. (1-2). He also made a sliding catch on Jake Meyers' liner to center in the eighth, stranding runners on the corners.
Smith (3-3) allowed one run and seven hits in his second straight win.
Grant Taylor, one of Chicago's top prospects, worked a 1-2-3 seventh in his major league debut. He hit 101.5 mph on his first pitch, a ball to Victor Caratini.
Brandon Eisert handled the ninth for his second save.
Isaac Paredes and Yainer Diaz each hit a sacrifice fly for Houston in the opener of a six-game homestand. McCullers permitted four runs and four hits in five innings.
Chicago scored two runs in the third to open a 3-0 lead. With two out and the bases loaded, Quero hit a two-run single to left.
Key moment
Meyers and Caratini hit back-to-back singles in the fourth, but Shane Smith got Cam Smith to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Key stat
Smith has won back-to-back starts for the first time in his career. The 25-year-old right-hander went into the game leading all MLB rookies with a 2.45 ERA.
Up next
Sean Burke (3-6, 4.03 ERA) is expected to pitch Wednesday for the White Sox against Ryan Gusto (3-3, 4.78 ERA) in the second of a three-game series.
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Critical levers Astros can pull as health concerns, deadline pressures grow
Jul 10, 2025, 3:46 pm
Jake Meyers is the latest Astro to be rushed back from injury too soon. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?