LDN - Sports

Seven relievers pitch White Sox past Astros

[September 22, 2017] HOUSTON -- Once a lingering blister issue felled his starter just 20 pitches into the game, Chicago White Sox manager Rick Renteria began making regular trips between the visiting dugout and the mound.

Right-hander Chris Volstad pitched effectively in emergency relief, and six additional relievers chipped in as the White Sox averted a series sweep with a 3-1 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday night at Minute Maid Park.

Summoned when right-hander Carson Fulmer departed due to a blister after facing only three batters, Volstad (1-0) worked 4 1/3 innings, surrendering a leadoff home run to Houston catcher Brian McCann in the third but otherwise keeping the vaunted Astros lineup in check.

Volstad allowed three hits, did not walk a batter and recorded two strikeouts before passing the baton to left-hander Jace Fry with two outs in the fifth. Volstad earned his first big league victory since Sept. 10, 2012, a 4-1 decision in Houston while pitching for the Chicago Cubs.

"It's been a long time actually," Volstad said, "but I'm glad the team won. It was a great game and we pitched well."

After Volstad departed and Fry walked the only batter he faced, Renteria mixed and matched his way through the remainder of the game.

The White Sox (61-91) got four outs from right-hander Mike Pelfrey. Renteria sandwiched another southpaw, Aaron Bummer, between right-handers Gregory Infante and Danny Farquhar, with the latter working a perfect eighth inning.

Right-hander Juan Minaya tossed a scoreless, albeit tense, ninth inning to notch his fifth save.

"Quite a few," Renteria said when asked how many steps ahead of the action he needed to be orchestrating his pitching changes. "When you're playing against that club that has so many things going on, you just put yourself in position to do the best that you can to match up certain situations. You're putting your best foot forward, and fortunately today it worked out."

After scratching across two runs off Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel (13-5), the White Sox recorded a critical insurance run when shortstop Tim Anderson drilled a leadoff homer to straightaway center field off Astros right-hander Francis Martes in the eighth inning. Anderson extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games with his 17th home run on the season.

The Astros (93-59) had their six-game winning streak halted and fell 2 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Indians in pursuit of the best record in the American League and home-field advantage in the postseason.

"It's a challenge, but that's September baseball in a nutshell," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "You've got so many relievers out there, and you can mix and match.

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White Sox starting pitcher Carson Fulmer (51) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

"We didn't do a ton. Just an off night for our offense. All in all, you just have nights like this where you face a couple of different pitchers, and they make pitches, and it ends up not being your night."

Keuchel wobbled just enough in the second and third innings to provide the White Sox a lead. He loaded the bases with one out in the second before walking Chicago left fielder Rymer Liriano to force in Avisail Garcia with the first run. Keuchel rallied to strike out Adam Engel and Anderson in succession to quell the rally, but Chicago loaded the bases again in the third inning, this time with no outs.

By inducing a double-play grounder off the bat of catcher Kevan Smith, Keuchel again limited the damage to one run, with Yoan Moncada scoring on the play. Keuchel cruised from there, and he wound up allowing two runs on five hits and three walks with seven strikeouts over six innings.

"I'm never going to give in, and I always feel like I have the upper hand," Keuchel said. "It's just disappointing. I've got to be a little bit better. We only had the one run today, and I should've been a lot better than I was. That's on me."

NOTES: White Sox RHP Carson Fulmer faced just three batters before departing with a blister on his right index finger. The issue stemmed from his previous start against the Royals in Kansas City and popped up as Fulmer warmed up in the bullpen. RHP Chris Volstad was already warming in the bullpen. Fulmer recorded one out. ... Astros RHP Lance McCullers completed his bullpen session Wednesday without issue, but the club hasn't committed to naming him the starter Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels for the finale of the final homestand of the season. McCullers, battling arm fatigue, last pitched on Sept. 6. ... White Sox DH Matt Davidson was a late scratch due to a low-grade fever.

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