Verlander shelled in brief outing

HOUSTON — The Astros benefited from a rare concentrated offensive explosion in Friday’s 13-3 win. A day later, they were on the opposite side of things.

Whereas the Astros hit five home runs in their onslaught Friday, the White Sox conquered Justin Verlander with ground balls, forcing him off the mound after 32⁄3 innings and a season-high seven runs allowed. It was the shortest outing of Verlander’s 13 starts this season and the second-shortest of his fiveseason Astros tenure.

Three of the runs against Verlander on Saturday were unearned because of an error by second baseman Jose Altuve, but Houston’s veteran pitcher did not help his cause with diminished fastball command.

Eight of the nine hits Verlander surrendered, including two doubles, came on four-seamers. Verlander threw 46 four-seam fastballs, with the White Sox swinging at 27 of them and whiffing just twice.

Verlander, who delivered 62 of his 84 pitches for strikes, used his slider to collect all three of his strikeouts.

Meanwhile, White Sox counterpart Johnny Cueto delivered seven shutout innings to help hand the Astros a 7-0 loss at Minute Maid Park, evening the series at a game apiece.

Cueto fanned five batters

while allowing just two hits and two walks. After Altuve’s first-inning leadoff single was wiped out on an unassisted double play, Houston waited six innings for another hit, with a similar result. Alex Bregman hustled for a ground-ball single to lead off the seventh, but Yordan Alvarez hit into a double play.

The Astros were outhit by the White Sox 12-3.

Scoreless appearances by Astros relievers Phil Maton, Brandon Bielak and Héctor Neris offered a silver lining, but they could not undo damage already inflicted.

Verlander entered Saturday with one of the lowest ground-ball percentages

(38.3) of qualified major league pitchers. Only 12 induce ground balls less often. The White Sox generated 10 ground balls and hit .400 against Verlander through three innings, and even in the absence of hard contact were able to hit into gaps in the Astros’ defense.

Three singles against Houston’s shift loaded the bases with one out in the top of the third inning. Luis Robert drove in two Chicago runs on a line drive single to right field before José Abreu added two more on a ground-ball double down the thirdbase line past a diving Bregman. Verlander coerced two groundouts to escape the inning, but more trouble followed in the next frame.

Verlander alternated two line-drive singles with two strikeouts in the fourth inning before Altuve let Andrew Vaughn’s hard-hit ground ball go between his legs and allowed a fifth Chicago run to score on the error. Robert then bounced a sharply hit tworun double down the left field line, hastening Verlander off the mound and leaving the Astros with an insurmountable seven-run deficit.

Bob Levey/Getty Images Justin Verlander leaves the game in the fourth inning after allowing seven runs on nine hits.