White Sox: Houston pitching proved tough to Sox in 11-3 loss
After a good day against one of the best pitchers in baseball, the White Sox struggled to get on base Friday evening versus the Houston Astros.
The White Sox pitching struggled, but the Astros did not which clearly explains the upside-down score.
Relief pitching blows it wide open
Reynaldo Lopez put up a good effort against the Astros, but like Friday’s game, the late-inning reliever lost control. Even the Astros relief pitcher gave up runs, but not to the extent of Hector Santiago in the eighth inning. By the time the inning was over, the Astros scored 7 off of Santiago.
By the end of the night, the Sox pitching staff recorded 13 hits and 6 walks. Only Jake Marisnick, who had one at-bat in the eighth inning, did not land on base. Every other Astros player was on base at least once. Jose Altuve continued his strong hitting campaign against the Sox and he was even intentionally walked during the ugly eighth inning.
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Lopez’s final line wasn’t bad, especially considering the dangerous Astro’s lineup. He gave up six hits and three earned runs. Unfortunately, he was only able to strike out two batters and walked five. He needs to get those walks under control. In his last four games, he has walked 13 batters. This was one of three games where walks outnumbered strikeouts. If he’s going to be included with the elite pitchers, that needs to stop.
Challenges getting on base
The Sox recorded only five hits. Two of them were home runs from Avisail Garcia and Daniel Palka, both in the top of the ninth inning. Yolmer Sanchez was on base when Garcia hit his home run. Sanchez earned an RBI on his single in the sixth inning that brought in Yoan Moncada. Sanchez continues to prove his value to the team as he manages to get on base and drive in important runs.
Check out Garcia’s two-run bomb:
Garcia also continues to prove his value as he has hit his seventh home run since returning from the disabled list. Since his return, he is batting .333/.354/.778. He has 12 extra-base hits in 15 games. In those 15 games, he hasn’t had more than two consecutive games without a home run.
By the end of the game the Astros two pitchers, Lance McCullers, Jr. and Brad Peacock recorded 13 strikeouts. The White Sox four pitchers only recorded four K’s, Chris Volstad and Hector Santiago each had one.
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The Sox face the Astros against on Saturday afternoon at 3:10. James Shields pitches against Charlie Morton. Interestingly, the Sox and ‘Stros have nearly the opposite records coming into this game. The Sox are 30-58 to the Astros record of 59-31. In his last two outings, Shields only allowed one run. Hopefully, he can continue pitching well against Morton, who has a 2.55 ERA coming into this game.