White Sox fall 6-3 to Astros despite Montgomery homer
Colson Montgomery homered but the White Sox lost 6-3 in Houston, and Chicago added outfielder Tommy Pham from the Phillies as rosters expanded ahead of Tuesday's series finale.
Montgomery's homer isn't enough in Houston
Colson Montgomery went 2-for-3 with a double and a home run and drove in a run in Houston on August 31, but it wasn't enough — the White Sox lost 6-3 to the Astros. Anthony Kay took the loss, working just 4.2 innings and allowing 6 hits and 5 earned runs with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. The White Sox are 3-2 in their last 5 games, a stretch that included wins over the Rangers and Twins before back-to-back losses closed it out.
Astros3-6Chicago still sits atop the AL Central at 72-65, 3 games ahead of second-place Cleveland, whose elimination number stands at 23. Minnesota, the last team the White Sox saw before Houston, sits 6.5 games back with an elimination number of 19.
Recent News
The White Sox are acquiring outfielder Tommy Pham from the Phillies, per Jeff Passan, with Pham expected to join the club now that rosters have expanded for September. The move gives Chicago an experienced bat for the stretch run as it holds first place in the Central.
White Sox are acquiring Tommy Pham from the Phillies and he is expected to join the White Sox when rosters expand on September 1, per @JeffPassan
On the pitching side, Drew Thorpe is set to make his next rehab start for Triple-A Charlotte on Wednesday, MLB.com reports, as he continues working back from his elbow injury. Reliever Jordan Leasure, meanwhile, underwent surgery in August to repair a torn UCL, per James Fegan of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Upcoming
Sean Burke gets the ball as the White Sox are in Houston tonight, working off a rough last start in which he issued 8 walks over just 3 innings against the Rangers on August 26. He carries a 7-6 record and a 3.32 ERA into the outing. Houston counters with Ronel Blanco, who is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA and hasn't pitched since August 7, when he allowed 3 earned runs over 4.2 innings against the Padres.
Neither club is favored — both sides sit at -110 — and the market's 8.5 total reads as middling for a matchup between a control-troubled Burke and a struggling Blanco. For that number to hold, someone will need to find outs in the middle innings that neither starter managed in his last time out.