Red-hot Astros wrap up sweep of White Sox
Struggling Marisnick’s single ignites 5-run uprising as victory streak hits 6
The Astros finish up a 6-1 road trip with a 7-1 win at Chicago, where they outscored the White Sox 27-2 in a three-game sweep.
CHICAGO — When Jake Marisnick led off the five-run seventh inning of the Astros’ 7-1 win on Sunday, he was without a hit in his last 22 at-bats. Twenty-nine of his 54 plate appearances this season ended in a strikeout, including two on Sunday. So frustrated was he in Seattle on Tuesday that, after his fourth punchout in as many attempts, he yelled audible expletives and restrained himself from tossing his bat onto the playing field and earning an almost certain ejection.
Upon arrival in Chicago, manager A.J. Hinch said Marisnick did not require a day or two for a mental reset. He entered late in the first two blowouts of the White Sox to get starters off their feet.
But here there was no separation, no cushion to warrant emptying the bench. The teams had mustered one run apiece across six sleepy innings. Both squandered pristine run-scoring opportunities
in a lagging getaway-day matinee.
Southpaw Aaron Bummer came from the White Sox bullpen to begin the seventh. Marisnick was summoned in place of Derek Fisher, the lefthandedhitting Astros’ left fielder, and instantly fell behind in the count.
Marisnick laid off two pitches near the bottom of the strike zone, evening the count. Bummer returned with an inside sinker, slightly elevated. Marisnick poked it into center field for a leadoff single.
“It had been a little bit,” Marisnick said. “Just to help win that game, get on base for the guys behind me, they put some at-bats together. It’s a step in the right direction, so let’s keep rolling off that.”
Marisnick was the third leadoff hitter in four innings to reach base. The Astros mustered one run in the two preceding it.
The seventh produced five against a woebegone White Sox bullpen. Bruce Rondon, inserted after Bummer ceded the single, tossed a wild pitch, and Marisnick scooted to second. Wellington Castillo could not block another wild offering, a passed ball that permitted Marisnick to take third.
“That was good for him to come (up) with a pinch hit,” Hinch said. “If you get on base, then good things happen. That whole inning was full of good at-bats. Jake was obviously the first one.”
One-sided series
Marisnick scored on Jose Altuve’s RBI single, one of four hits in the frame. Marwin Gonzalez launched his second bases-loaded ground-rule double in as many games, and Alex Bregman collected a run-scoring single.
The Astros sent 10 men to the plate and morphed this game into a replica of the two that preceded it. They outscored the White Sox 27-2 in the three-game sweep and received three starts containing six innings and one or no runs allowed.
Sunday, Lance McCullers Jr. finished the task. He spun six innings of one-run ball, a grinding effort on an afternoon in which he plainly did not have his best stuff.
“That wasn't easy for him,” Hinch said. “Didn't have his location, didn't have many of his pitches. He did bail himself out of some innings with ground balls and some punchouts here and there, minimized some damage that was going to be created.”
It’s these sorts of starts that are more encouraging, displaying an ability to navigate a lineup without your best. Brian McCann explained as much last week, when Gerrit Cole labored through a seven-inning start with spotty command and numerous baserunners. Still, he ceded only one unearned run.
Double plays help
Facing similar struggles, McCullers (3-1) replicated the situation Sunday. He allowed a man aboard in all but one inning he pitched. He hit two batters and walked another. Six White Sox reached scoring position in the six innings he threw. Only one scored.
McCullers rolled two 64-3 double play balls in the first four innings to erase baserunners. In the sixth, he fanned Matt Davidson on three curveballs after yielding a one-out single. Six of the eight hits against him were singles.
His offense, meanwhile, collected 10 hits. It’s the fifth game in a row the Astros have had 10 or more, a season-high streak.
“The offense is starting to heat up,” Gonzalez said. “The offense is getting there. Everyone is working together, and everyone is expecting a lot from us. This is what this team is capable to do.”