Astros Break It Open in the Third, Beat White Sox 6-2 to Take the Series
Jose Altuve homered, Houston hung six on Luis Castillo, and the Astros quietly banked a tiebreaker that could matter in October.
The Houston Astros closed out a home series win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, 6-2, and the way they did it should worry Chicago more than the score. Houston won the season series 5-2, per Sox Machine — a tiebreaker edge that could decide postseason positioning between two teams currently leading their divisions.
Castillo unravels
White Sox starter Luis Castillo never found his swing-and-miss stuff — Sox Machine counted just five swinging strikes on 78 pitches. The trouble started early: Castillo lost a 10-pitch battle to Isaac Paredes for a two-out walk, and Jose Altuve followed by launching a fastball over the Crawford Boxes for a 2-0 lead.
Chicago actually answered, tying it at 2-2 in the second on RBI singles from Jake Rogers and Sam Antonacci. But the third inning finished Castillo off. Per Yahoo Sports, Houston went single, hit-by-pitch, double, triple, single — Paredes doubling and Daulton Varsho tripling home two — to make it 6-2.
Brown settles in
Astros starter Hunter Brown wobbled through the second, then took over, retiring nine consecutive batters at one stretch and earning the win. Chicago's bullpen — Schweitzer, Richards and Urquidy — threw four scoreless innings, but the offense never mounted a response.
The stakes
The White Sox fell to 73-67, still atop the AL Central with a three-game lead over Cleveland, per Yahoo Sports. Houston, at 72-69, leads the AL West. Both teams look playoff-bound if they hold serve — which is why a quiet September series in Houston, and the head-to-head edge that came with it, may echo louder next month.