Houston has a rough night

Astros struggle all around in loss to White Sox

Astros' Carlos Correa
Houston struggled on both sides of the ball on Saturday in Chicago. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images.

Houston struggled on both sides of the ball on Saturday in Chicago.

After getting a lopsided win in the opener on Friday night, the Astros tried to capitalize on the chance to lock up the series with the formidable White Sox on Saturday night in the series middle game. Instead, Chicago would take their turn to dominate, handing Houston the loss to even things at a game apiece.

Final Score: White Sox 10, Astros 1

Astros' Record: 56-37, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Lucas Giolito (8-6)

Losing Pitcher: Jake Odorizzi (3-5)

Odorizzi gets roughed up and exits early

After allowing just a walk in the first two innings, Jake Odorizzi would watch his start go downhill from there. Chicago tagged him with back-to-back solo homers with one out on the bottom of the third, jumping ahead 2-0 before Odorizzi would finish the inning. He returned to try and rebound in the fourth and give his team some more innings but instead would continue to struggle, allowing two more runs on an RBI double and single, extending the White Sox's lead to 4-0. He would get just one out into the inning before being removed in favor of Brandon Bielak. His final line: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 2 HR, 73 P.

Houston's bullpen doesn't fare any better

After Bielak finished the fourth for Odorizzi, he gave up two runs of his own on a one-out two-run homer to make it 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth. He went on to complete that frame, then in the bottom of the next inning, the Astros turned to Joe Smith to try and at least keep things within a long arm's reach. The White Sox kept scoring, though, getting a leadoff double, then a single, then a three-run blast to extend the lead further to 9-0 and blow things open.

Austin Pruitt, who was acquired by the Astros in the 2019-20 offseason but suffered an injury to keep him sidelined last year, made his long-awaited debut for Houston out of the bullpen in the bottom of the seventh. He too would feel the wrath of Chicago's offense, giving up a solo homer to make it 10-0 but retiring the other three batters he faced.

White Sox even the series

Meanwhile, Houston's offense had nothing for Lucas Giolito who was carving up the Astros lineup. After a one-out double in the second at-bat of the game by Michael Brantley, Giolito retired the next 22 in a row getting to two outs in the top of the eighth. Abraham Toro would finally get Houston on the board, hitting a solo homer to make it a nine-run game at 10-1. Pruitt returned for a scoreless bottom of the eighth, keeping it 10-1 which would be the final score as Giolito would finish the complete game in the top of the ninth, handing the Astros the lopsided loss.

Up Next: The finale and rubber game of this three-game series will get underway at 1:10 PM Central on Sunday. Framber Valdez (5-1, 2.98 ERA) will make his first start of the second half for Houston, while Carlos Rodon (7-3, 2.31) will go for Chicago.

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Can the Texans pull off the upset? Composite Getty Image.

The NFL playoffs are finally here, and the Texans will kick off the postseason by hosting the LA Chargers this Saturday at NRG.

And while the Texans are only 3 point underdogs, the national media is making it seem like Houston has no chance against Justin Herbert and company.

ESPN's Rex Ryan has gone as far as calling the Texans a "bye" week for the Chargers, giving the team no chance to win despite playing at home.

However, the Texans are no stranger to this situation, as they were given little chance to win against the Browns in last year's Wild Card game. And we know how that ended, with the Texans thrashing the Browns 45-14.

It's certainly fair to predict the Chargers will come away with a win this Saturday, they have been playing much better football than Houston in recent weeks.

But it's important to remember that home underdogs have performed well in the Wild Card round. In fact, home underdogs are 16-14 all-time in the Wild Card playoffs, and both home underdogs won last year (Texans, Buccaneers).

Speaking of last year, many credit the Texans defense for securing the win over Cleveland, with two pick sixes in the second half helping to seal the deal.

But the real reason Houston won the game was because of CJ Stroud and the offense. Stroud threw 3 touchdowns before halftime and the team was leading 24-14 with six minutes left in the third quarter. That's when the defense tacked on two interceptions for touchdowns and put the game out of reach. Stroud and the offense also went on to score another TD on a Devin Singletary run.

If Stroud and the offense didn't put so much pressure on Joe Flacco and the Cleveland offense to score, he may not have forced those passes that were picked off.

Now, many will point to the Chargers having the best defense (points allowed) this season, but it's worth noting the Browns had the number one defense (yards allowed) last year as well.

Bulls on Parade

Houston's defense will have its hands full against a strong rushing attack led by JK Dobbins. And Justin Herbert has been terrific this season, spreading the ball around to his top two targets, Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston.

Fortunately for the Texans, they are extremely healthy on defense this week. While Jimmy Ward and Jalen Pitre are out for the year, we'll finally get to see linebackers Azeez Al-Shaair and Christian Harris play together for the first time this season.

The defensive line is expected to be at full strength as well, keep in mind Jonathan Greenard was injured and unable to play against the Browns last year.

Outlook on offense

We should see the best possible version of the offensive line this Saturday. We're all aware how many hits Stroud has taken due to poor o-line play. But with Tytus Howard and left guard and Juice Scruggs at right guard, Stroud should have more time to get the passing game going, featuring Nico Collins.

Speaking of the receivers, it's pretty amazing that this receiver group is almost identical to last year's in the Wild Card round. Stroud didn't have Stefon Diggs (on the Bills) or Tank Dell (injured) to throw to last year, either. But he does have one big addition in Joe Mixon this year. Hopefully, they can get Mixon involved in the passing game, and the shuffling of the o-line provides Mixon with some holes to run through.

X-factor

At least there's a possibility newly acquired receiver Diontae Johnson could provide a spark to the offense. Last year John Metchie and Robert Woods were the main targets besides Collins and Dalton Schultz.

What does Vegas think?

The Chargers are favored by 3 and the total is set at 42.5 points

Don't miss the video above as the crew from Texans on Tap previews this week's big game!

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