The Astros hope to even the series with Hunter Brown on the mound. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.
Houston Astros (33-40, second in the AL West) vs. Chicago White Sox (20-54, fifth in the AL Central)
Chicago; Wednesday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Hunter Brown (3-5, 5.00 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 76 strikeouts); White Sox: Garrett Crochet (6-5, 3.16 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 116 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Astros -116, White Sox -104; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Chicago White Sox take a 1-0 lead into the next game of the series against the Houston Astros.
Chicago is 13-23 at home and 20-54 overall. The White Sox are 6-14 in games decided by one run.
Houston is 33-40 overall and 14-21 on the road. The Astros have a 25-4 record in games when they scored at least five runs.
The teams play Wednesday for the second time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Gavin Sheets has 14 doubles, a triple and seven home runs for the White Sox. Andrew Vaughn is 14-for-43 with a double and three home runs over the last 10 games.
Yordan Alvarez has 16 doubles, a triple and 14 home runs for the Astros. Jose Altuve is 14-for-41 with two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: White Sox: 4-6, .234 batting average, 3.78 ERA, outscored by six runs
Astros: 5-5, .262 batting average, 3.61 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs
INJURIES: White Sox: Max Stassi: 60-Day IL (hip), Dominic Leone: 60-Day IL (right elbow), Dominic Fletcher: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Mike Clevinger: 15-Day IL (elbow), Eloy Jimenez: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Yoan Moncada: 60-Day IL (abductor), Jimmy Lambert: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Matt Foster: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jesse Scholtens: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Astros: Justin Verlander: 15-Day IL (neck), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (forearm), Kyle Tucker: 10-Day IL (shin), Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (forearm), Oliver Ortega: 60-Day IL (elbow), Bennett Sousa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Penn Murfee: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Marcus Semien hit his 250th career home run and Adolis García also went deep to back up a strong start by Nathan Eovaldi and give the Texas Rangers a 5-1, series clinching victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday.
Eovaldi (7-3) limited Houston to five hits and a run with eight strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings for his third straight win.
Houston starter Hunter Brown (9-4) allowed five hits and four runs while striking out eight in five innings as the AL West leaders lost for the fifth time in six games. It was the second straight tough outing for the All-Star, who gave up a season-high six runs in his last start against Cleveland.
Wyatt Langford walked to open the second and the Rangers made it 1-0 when he scored on a triple by Evan Carter. There were two outs in the inning when Carter scored on a ground-rule double by Ezequiel Duran to push the lead to 2-0.García’s third homer in the last four games put Texas ahead 3-0 with two outs in the third inning.
Carter doubled to start the fourth and Kyle Higashioka singled before Carter scored on a sacrifice fly by Alejandro Osuna to make it 4-0.
The Astros cut it to 4-1 on a home run by Zack Short with no outs in the sixth inning.
Semien’s shot with one out in the eighth inning was his second of the series and gave him 250 in his 13-year career.
Key moment
Texas jumping on Brown for two runs in the second inning to take the lead for good.
Key stat
García’s 20 home runs against the Astros since 2021 are the most of any player in that span.
Up next
The Astros open the second half of the season Friday night at Seattle, and the Rangers host Detroit on the same night.
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