Keuchel and the Astros overcome White Sox
In his first game after stint in minors, slugger rips telling blow in 11th inning
CHICAGO — Evan Gattis salvaged an up-and-down night by ace Dallas Keuchel and a blown save by Luke Gregerson in the ninth to give the Astros a 6-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox with a tworun homer in the 11th inning.
“It never (gets old). Hitting home runs in general never gets old,” said Gattis, who spent 10 days at Class AA Corpus Christi to work on his catching before returning to the big league lineup Tuesday as the designated hitter.
Gattis, who scored the game’s first run in the second, sent an 0-2 sinker off Matt Albers into the White Sox’s bullpen for a 6-4 lead. George Springer also scored after reaching on a single.
“We all love the ‘Gatti,’” Keuchel said. “He’s quite the character, but he’s been clutch for us and he’s been clutch in his tenure in the big leagues, so we’re glad to have him back and looking forward to more ‘Gatti’ bombs.”
The White Sox got one back in the bottom of the 11th, but Tony Sipp ended it, striking out Alex Avila with the tying
run on second base.
The win helped erase missed opportunities, which included the Astros going up 4-3 in the eighth inning on a Jose Altuve sacrifice fly.
Before that, it was Tyler White, who started the eighth-inning rally with a double but also homered twice for his first three-hit game since the opening week of the year.
He snapped his homerless streak that dated to April 20. The first put the Astros up and the second tied the game.
The Astros also twice left the bases loaded.
In the ninth, the White Sox got to Gregerson for his third blown save in four chances after converting 16 straight dating back to last year.
Austin Jackson led off with a double and went to third on a Carlos Sanchez bunt. Tyler Saladino followed, lifting an 0-1 slider to center for the game-tying sacrifice fly.
Early on, White showed the swing that made him one of baseball’s hottest stories to start the year. He made it 2-0 in the fourth with his sixth home run of the year.
The rookie hit three homers in the first week but has struggled as pitchers have made adjustments. He found some success on the most recent homestand, which included hitting three doubles, and he hit a 96 mph Rodon fastball into the left-field seats.
“It’s nice to see him not try to do too much,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “He got rewarded with some extra-base hits, but he wasn’t overswinging the entire time and really coming out of his swing. Hopefully, that’s a sign of things to come.”
That held until the third batter of the bottom of the fourth inning.
Keuchel was perfect until then, setting down 11 straight White Sox to start as he worked ahead and reached a full count only once. He struck out Jackson and Dioner Navarro to start the third and Jimmy Rollins for the second out in the fourth.
Jose Abreu, who entered Tuesday with two hits off Keuchel in six at-bats, followed, driving a 1-1 changeup over 420 feet to center for a solo shot.
“That’s the best I’ve felt so far,” Keuchel said. “Besides that elevated changeup to a very good hitter in Abreu, I felt like I made a lot of pitches.”
The White Sox got him again in the fifth, as Keuchel gave up four straight two-outs hits. A pair of doubles tied the game and Adam Eaton’s single to left put the White Sox 3-2.
But White answered with his second homer.
The White Sox chased Keuchel in the seventh after the first four batters reached. There was no damage as Ken Giles escaped the jam, striking out Rollins on three pitches and Abreu on four.