First and 10 against Astros
It took awhile, but the White Sox finally picked up a win against the Astros. And they left little doubt.
Lucas Giolito threw a complete game, and the Sox got home runs from Zack Collins, Tim Anderson, Gavin Sheets, Jose Abreu and Jake Burger on Saturday to rout Houston 10-1. Entering the game, the Sox were 0-5 against the Astros and had only been competitive in one of those defeats.
“We needed this win tonight,” said Anderson, who came a triple short of the cycle and extended his hitting streak to 14 games. “Coming into today, we knew we hadn’t beaten them in [five] games, so we knew what we needed tonight. We were able to go out and accomplish our goal.”
In front of an announced crowd of 34,304, the Sox turned the tables for at least a night on a team they might have to get by in October. Burger hit his first homer in the seventh inning and capped one of the most productive nights for the Sox’ offense this year.
He did it in front of family and friends, and the homer was another moment in Burger’s climb back. Burger said he had a talk Friday with infielder Danny Mendick, who said to him: “Aren’t you glad you didn’t quit?” Burger said he responded: “Isn’t that the truth?”
“Looking back at the whole three years, the multiple times I said I wanted to quit,” Burger said, “there are no words that can describe what I’m feeling. It’s cool that my family and friends were behind me the entire time and the White Sox.”
Giolito, meanwhile, allowed a one-out double in the first to Michael Brantley, then retired the next 22 batters until Abraham Toro’s homer with two outs in the eighth. After a first half that wasn’t up to his standards, Giolito struck out eight and allowed three hits in his first start after the All-Star break, during which he went to Lake Tahoe with his wife and enjoyed some time away from the game.
“I didn’t really like how my first half went, so I want to come out with a vengeance for the second half here,” Giolito said. “I thought that today would be a good day to start that.”
Abreu made it 9-0 in the sixth with a threerun home run, the 214th of his career, tying Carlton Fisk for fourth in team history.
“He just rises to the occasion with men in scoring position,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “He has that knack to concentrate. He's got the kind of stroke where he can get base hits all over, including home runs. And he also plays Gold Glove defense at first base. So, what a player.”
Marshall update
Reliever Evan Marshall is playing catch and improving, La Russa said. Still, there’s no timetable for him to take the mound or throw a bullpen session.
Marshall was put on the 10-day injured list June 30 with a strained right flexor pronator.
Eloy watch
After not playing Friday, Eloy Jimenez was back in Triple-A Charlotte’s lineup, batting third and playing left field. He went 1-for-4 in the Knights’ 11-3 loss.