The Astros went into this series against the AL Central-leading White Sox with something real on the line. Houston has spent most of September holding the AL West, and a 4-game set against the club sitting on the American League's No. 2 seed was as good a measuring stick as this stretch run offers. They walked away with 3 wins in 4 games and a legitimate shot at that seed with 22 games to go.
Wednesday's opener was the kind of pitcher's duel that decides tight races. Hayden Wesneski threw 7 scoreless innings, one of just 2 Astros starts to go that deep since July 26 -- a stretch of 34 games (2095327683961815364). Rob Friedman caught the pitch that made it work: an 83 mph sweeper with 22 inches of horizontal break that had no business missing that many bats.
Hayden Wesneski, Vicious 83mph Sweeper. 😤 22 Inches of Horizontal Break
White Sox starter Davis Martin matched him for a while, working out of a bases-loaded jam early with a fist pump. But Wesneski's night was airtight, and once he left, Houston's bullpen had to hold the line -- AJ Blubaugh escaped an 8th-inning mess with the bases loaded, and Nelson Velazquez delivered the game's only offense, a 2-run single that snapped an 0-for-8 Astros skid with runners in scoring position. Houston won it 2-0, taking the season series from Chicago and padding its AL West lead over Texas (2095338947454935417).
Thursday belonged to Jose Altuve. With Isaac Paredes on base in the first, Altuve hit a 2-run homer to stake Houston to an early lead -- his 15th of the season. It's the kind of moment that's stopped being surprising from a guy with 270 career home runs and 2,495 career hits, numbers that put him among the best to ever wear an Astros uniform (2095581864874401942).
Jose Altuve’s 15th homer of the season gives the Astros an early lead!
Chicago clawed back to tie it at 2-2 on an infield single and a Colson Montgomery-scoring hit, but Hunter Brown settled in and Houston pulled away for a 6-2 win behind a 2-run triple from Daz Varsho. Brown's outing matters beyond the box score. He opened this season with 7 straight quality starts before a Grade 2 shoulder strain sent him to the injured list in April, and he's been rebuilding his command ever since returning from a stretch that once had him in the AL Cy Young conversation off a 2.43 ERA a year ago. Back-to-back quality starts from Wesneski and Brown is exactly the kind of rotation stability Houston needs right now (2095602191453028575).
Hunter Brown's 7th K
Jose Urquidy also chipped in a scoreless 8th in a return to Houston, and Braden Montgomery saved 2 runs with a running catch in right field before tossing the ball to a fan. Add it up and the Astros improved to 72-69, now just a game and a half behind the 73-67 White Sox for that No. 2 seed and the first-round bye that comes with it. With three weeks left, that gap is exactly the kind of number a hot week can erase.