Astros take 3 of 4, close in on AL's No. 2 seed
A 6-2 win over the White Sox closed out a 3-of-4 series and pulled the Astros within 1 1/2 games of Chicago for the AL's No. 2 seed as they host Arizona tonight.
Three of four from the White Sox
The Astros beat the White Sox 6-2 on September 3 to close out the series, having beaten Chicago 6-3 on August 31, lost 5-1 on September 1, then beaten them again 2-0 on September 2. Hunter Brown went 6.0 innings in the finale, allowing 6 hits and 2 earned runs while walking 2 and striking out 7, and Jose Altuve went 1-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Brian McTaggart noted it was the second straight quality start for the Astros' rotation, with Hayden Wesneski's gem the day before setting up Brown's outing.
White Sox6-3White Sox1-5White Sox2-0White Sox6-2Right-hander Mike Burrows, already on the 15-day IL with an elbow issue, was found to have inflammation in his right shoulder after an MRI, manager Joe Espada said, per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle.
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The series win did more than salvage the week — per Scott Merkin, it moved Houston within 1 1/2 games of the White Sox for the AL's No. 2 seed. Brian McTaggart put the same math on the Astros at 72-69 and the White Sox at 73-67, with a game and a half separating them for that spot.
Brown's start carried its own subplot: he told reporters, per McTaggart, that he was "dragging my blanket a little bit after the second inning" before working through six innings anyway. Elsewhere, shortstop Carlos Correa continues rehabbing his surgically repaired ankle and has been cleared to keep ramping up at the club's Florida complex, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic.
Upcoming
The Astros host the Diamondbacks tonight, and the pitching matchup favors the visitors on paper: Arizona's Merrill Kelly is 9-12 with a 5.08 ERA but was sharp in his last start, throwing 7.0 shutout innings against the Giants on August 29 with 7 strikeouts and just 2 hits allowed. Houston counters with Cristian Javier, who is 1-5 with a 6.45 ERA and lasted only 4.0 innings in his last outing against the Athletics on August 23, allowing 3 earned runs despite 8 strikeouts.
The market still makes Houston the favorite despite Javier's rough stretch, with the total read as middling — a reflection of an Astros lineup that has scored in bunches this series against a Kelly-led Arizona staff that has otherwise pitched well. For the number to hold, Javier needs to find the form that has largely eluded him and keep Arizona's bats quieter than his last turn managed.