Yordan Alvarez had two hits and two RBIs and Yainer Diaz homered to lift the visiting Houston Astros to a 4-3 victory against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon.
Houston won for the fourth time in five games while sending Chicago to its fourth loss in the past five.
Four Astros combined on 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Ryan Pressly pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save in seven chances. Chas McCormick made a diving catch of a Tim Anderson line drive in center to end the game.
The White Sox surrendered the first four runs but trimmed the deficit to one on Jake Burger’s two-run homer in the sixth inning. Chicago scored its first run on a Luis Robert Jr. solo shot in the fourth.
Activated from the 10-day injured list before the game after missing time with a left oblique strain, Burger went 2-for-4 as the White Sox designated hitter.
Astros right-hander Hunter Brown improved to 4-1, scattering three runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. Brown walked one and struck out eight.
Houston seized control early against White Sox starter Lucas Giolito, who allowed the first three batters to reach base.
After Mauricio Dubon and Alex Bregman opened the game with singles, Alvarez lined a pitch to the wall in right-center for a two-run double. Alvarez advanced to third on the play when Anderson’s relay throw from shortstop was wild, which allowed Alvarez to score on Kyle Tucker’s RBI sacrifice fly one batter later.
Four of the six Astros who batted in the first inning recorded hits against Giolito, who recovered before surrendering the first home run of Diaz’s major league career, a solo shot to left field leading off the fourth.
Giolito (2-3) allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings with zero walks and six strikeouts.
Robert, who had two hits Sunday, went 6-for-11 with three home runs in the series. Tucker had two hits for Houston.
Chicago fell to 1-2 on its nine-game homestand. Houston won the season series from Chicago 4-3.
–Field Level Media
