Houston has a rough night
Astros struggle all around in loss to White Sox
Jul 17, 2021, 9:10 pm
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
Toro gets us on the board#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/XFz6vFB9Ff
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 18, 2021
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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Dusty Baker has won the fourth Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Baseball Digest.
The beloved Baker retired following the 2023 season after spending 56 years in the majors as a player, coach and manager. He was honored Thursday with an annual distinction that “recognizes a living individual whose career has been spent in or around Major League Baseball and who has made significant contributions to the game.”
Willie Mays won the inaugural award in 2021, followed by Vin Scully in 2022 and Joe Torre last year.
“Receiving this award is a tremendous honor,” Baker said in a news release. “I never thought that I’d be in the class of the people that received this award. I know that my late mom and dad would be proud of me. This is really special.”
The 74-year-old Baker broke into the big leagues as a teenager with the Atlanta Braves in 1968 and played 19 seasons. He made two All-Star teams, won two Silver Slugger awards and earned a Gold Glove in the outfield.
He was the 1977 NL Championship Series MVP and finished fourth in 1980 NL MVP voting before helping the Los Angeles Dodgers win the 1981 World Series.
Following his playing career, Baker was a coach for the San Francisco Giants from 1988-92 and then became their manager in 1993. He won the first of his three NL Manager of the Year awards with the Giants that season and spent 26 years as a big league skipper, also guiding the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals and Houston Astros.
Baker took all those teams to the playoffs, winning 10 division crowns, three pennants and finally a World Series championship in 2022 with the Astros. He ranks seventh on the career list with 2,183 wins and is the only manager in major league history to lead five franchises to division titles.
In January, he returned to the Giants as a special adviser to baseball operations. Baker's former team is 7-18 under new Astros manager Joe Espada.
“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am honored to congratulate Dusty Baker as the 2024 recipient of Baseball Digest’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He joins an incredible club," Commissioner Rob Manfred said. "Dusty represents leadership, goodwill, and winning baseball. His ability to connect with others, across generations, is second to none. He is a championship manager and player. But, most importantly, Dusty is an extraordinary ambassador for our national pastime.”
Baker was selected in voting by an 18-member panel from a list of candidates that also included Bob Costas, Sandy Koufax, Tony La Russa, Jim Leyland, Rachel Robinson and Bud Selig, among others.