Chicago White Sox take series; top Houston Astros 4-3

Jul 5, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Ronald Belisario (54) delivers a pitch during the thirteenth inning against the Seattle Mariners at U.S Cellular Field. Seattle won 3-2 in 14 innings. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

For the second night in a row, the bullpen of the Chicago White Sox was able to keep the lead and the victory on Saturday night, defeating the Houston Astros, 4-3.

It was hard not to be impressed with the relief pitching of Ronald Belisario, who when pitching in the seventh and eighth innings got the job done.

Belisario’s fastball was working great, and he pitched with enthusiasm and confidence. He should be the permanent setup man for those two innings, because that is where he shines the most.

In his outing on Saturday, Belisario was excellent, pitching two inning of relief, allowing no runs or hits, one walk and striking out three. Before him, Javy Guerra didn’t fare as well, allowing two hits and not recording an out.

After Belisario, Jake Petricka allowed one hit and a walk, but in two-thirds of an inning, he didn’t give up a run but left two runners on the bases for Zach Putnam. Putnam proceeded to get the save, his third of the season, by striking Jason Castro. Putnam built an 0-2 count and ended the game by throwing the ball past Castro’s final swing.

The win moves the White Sox to 47-51 on the year, while the Astros fall to 40-58.

Another big reason for the win was a big defensive play by Alejandro De Aza in the top of the eighth inning, making a running and diving catch for the first out in the inning.

Hector Noesi was the winning pitcher, moving his record to 4-7 on the season. Noesi went six innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits and one walk. He struck out two and allowed a home run to George Springer.

Now for the White Sox offense, which started with Adam Eaton singling in Alejandro De Aza with a ground ball to the shortstop for the first run of the game.

The White Sox added two runs in the bottom of the third with Conor Gillaspie hitting a single to centerfield, scoring Dayan Viciedo. With the bases loaded, Tyler Flowers was hit by a pitch to score Paul Konerko from third.

Chicago scored their final run in the bottom of the fifth with Flowers hitting a fly ball to left field to score De Aza.

For the game, Chicago totaled 13 hits, including a 3-for-4 night by Eaton, a 3-for-3 game from Flowers and two hits each by De Aza and Alexei Ramirez. Flowers also had two RBIs in the win.

Since coming back from the All-Star break (two games), Flowers has totaled four hits, one more hit than he had in the entire month of July before the break.