Astros send White Sox to fourth straight loss

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[May 19, 2016]  The Sports Xchange
 
 CHICAGO -- Jose Altuve went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Jason Castro went 2-for-3 and scored three runs to lead the Houston Astros to a 5-3 win against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

 

The Astros (17-24) have won the first two games of the three-game series to match their season high for consecutive wins. The White Sox (24-16), despite converting their second triple play of the season, have lost four straight games and six of their last seven.

Doug Fister (4-3) allowed three runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings to earn the win. Luke Gregerson, who blew a save in the series opener on Tuesday and had blown three of his past four save opportunities, picked up his ninth save.

Mat Latos (5-1) started for Chicago and took the loss in his third straight poor outing. Latos allowed five runs on 11 of Houston's 13 hits. He walked two and served up solo home runs to Colby Rasmus (1-for-5) and Castro.

Chicago's Jose Abreu went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Melky Cabrera went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple.

Trailing 5-1 after five innings, the White Sox pushed runs across in the sixth and seventh to pull within two runs. Cabrera tripled home Todd Frazier from first in the sixth to make it 5-2 Astros, and Abreu's second RBI single made it 5-3 in the seventh.

That was as close as they would get thanks to Will Harris working a scoreless eighth and Gregerson's ninth.

In the Astros' half of the eighth, Dan Jennings walked the first two hitters he faced to bring George Springer up with a chance to extend the lead. Instead, Springer hit into a 5-4-3 triple play to end the inning. It was the White Sox's second triple play of the season and second at U.S. Cellular Field. Their first was April 22 to end the seventh inning of their 5-0 win against the Texas Rangers.

Neither starter was sharp to begin the game, with each allowing a run in the first inning. Latos allowed a leadoff single to Altuve to start the game, and he came around to score after a walk was followed by Carlos Correa's single to right field.

Chicago tied it 1-1 in the bottom of the first with a run on two hits and a walk against Fister. Jimmy Rollins' one-out double put him in scoring position and Abreu drove him home with a single to right field in the next at-bat.

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Fister settled into a good rhythm, but Latos continued to battle through a tough outing. The Astros plated solo runs in the second and fourth to build a 3-1 lead and had seven hits off Latos to that point in the game.

Rasmus led off the fifth with a solo homer off Latos to make it 4-1 and Castro did the same to push it to 5-1 starting the sixth against the White Sox's starter. Rasmus also saved two runs in the bottom of the fifth with a difficult running catch to end the inning.

NOTES: White Sox 3B Todd Frazier got back into the starting lineup Wednesday after missing the series-opener against the Astros on Tuesday because of a stomach virus. ... RHP Nate Jones (bruised left foot) is dealing with soreness after being hit by a batted ball in the seventh inning Tuesday, but remains available to pitch. ... Houston INF Marwin Gonzalez (sore foot) was not in the starting lineup after going 0-for-5 and playing all 11 innings of the Astro's 6-5 win in the series-opening game Tuesday. ... Houston manager A.J. Hinch is trying to get back to a five-man rotation, so RHP Chris Devenski will be used exclusively out of the bullpen through at least the weekend and possibly longer. ... The Astros' starters for their weekend series against the Texas Rangers will be RHP Lance McCullers on Friday, RHP Mike Fiers on Saturday and LHP Dallas Keuchel on Sunday. ... Houston LF Tony Kemp and 3B Colin Moran each made their first major league starts Wednesday.

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