The Houston Astros try to wrap up a nine-game road swing on Sunday with back-to-back series wins, while the White Sox seek their third series victory in the last four when the two meet in Chicago.
Chicago broke through in the eighth inning on Saturday, ending a stalemate with a pair of run-scoring singles from Luis Robert Jr. and Seby Zavala as the White Sox won 3-1. They ended a three-game losing skid, including Friday’s series-opening 5-1 defeat.
Robert hit solo home runs in both games of the series, giving him 10 for the season. His eighth-inning RBI single on Saturday followed a leadoff double by Yoan Moncada, who was making just his second appearance for Chicago in more than a month due to back injury.
Moncada returned to the lineup for the first time since April 9 in Friday’s contest. His 3-for-4 performance on Saturday marked his first base hits since April 7.
The clutch hitting late helped the White Sox capitalize on an all-around outstanding pitching effort.
“If we play like that consistently, we’re going to be pretty deadly,” Saturday’s starting pitcher, Dylan Cease, said per the Chicago Sun-Times.
Lucas Giolito (2-2, 3.59 ERA) takes the mound for Chicago on Sunday. Giolito is 2-5 with a 5.94 ERA in his eight career appearances against Houston, all of which were starts.
His most recent outing against the Astros came in the season-opening series this year, when he allowed two earned runs over five innings in a no-decision on April 1.
Giolito scored the win in his last start. On Tuesday at Kansas City, he struck out a season-high nine and allowed two runs over six innings in Chicago’s 4-2 victory.
Houston, meanwhile, will try to start a new winning streak after the Astros’ run of three straight ended on Saturday.
The Astros’ road swing that has been marked with ups-and-downs, both in terms of results — Houston is 4-4 — and in personnel news.
Manager Dusty Baker told reporters on Friday that Michael Brantley will be out indefinitely due to shoulder inflammation. Chas McCormick, who returned to the Astros lineup on May 8 after almost a month out due to a back injury, missed the next four games.
However, Baker told reporters on Saturday that he has McCormick “slated to play” on Sunday.
Hunter Brown (3-1, 3.23) makes the start for Houston, and he’s looking to bounce back after his last two appearances yielded his first career loss and a season-worst performance in terms of hits allowed and strikeouts recorded.
Brown took his first-ever defeat on May 2 against San Francisco. He walked a career-high five, but allowed just two hits and two earned runs. With the Astros offense failing to score, however, that was all it took to hand Brown the 2-0 loss.
He did not receive a decision in his last start, on Monday in Anaheim, Calif., against divisional rival Los Angeles. However, he pitched only 4 1/3 innings while allowing four runs and a career-high nine hits. He fanned a season-low three.
Brown aims to regroup in his first-ever matchup with the White Sox. He is 2-0 in three starts all-time against American League Central opponents, the most recent coming in his first win of 2023: a seven-inning, two-hit, seven-strikeout performance at Minnesota on April 9. He allowed only an unearned run in the 5-1 victory.