Astros fall to White Sox 7-6 as Fister walks 5
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s Doug Fister struggled with command on Saturday and it led to his second straight loss.
Fister allowed nine hits and five runs while walking five in 4 2/3 innings of a 7-6 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
“He ran into a couple of things. He had a high pitch count early,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “They made him work. He wasn’t very sharp. The five walks hurt him and the home run.”
Fister (8-4) said things weren’t feeling right from the start on Saturday.
“It was one of those days where I was fighting myself mechanically and not able to execute as well as I’d like,” he said.
The White Sox got a season-high four RBIs from Dioner Navarro, and Chris Sale settled down after a shaky start to pitch seven-plus innings and become this season’s first 14-game winner.
Navarro drove in a pair with a triple in the second inning to put Chicago up 2-1. The White Sox were trailing in the fifth when his two-run single made it 5-4.
J.B. Shuck hit a solo homer in the fourth and had an RBI triple in Chicago’s two-run eighth inning.
Sale (14-2) allowed four runs in the first three innings before settling in to yield just two hits and an unearned run the rest of the way. He allowed six hits and tied a season high by fanning nine.
Rookie A.J. Reed hit his first career homer off David Robertson to make it 7-6 with two outs in the ninth before Robertson struck out Colby Rasmus for his 22nd save.
Jose Altuve homered and drove in three runs for the Astros, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.
Altuve gave Houston a 1-0 lead with his home run to the seats in right field with two outs in the first.
Chicago took the lead with Navarro’s one-out triple. Avisail Garcia walked after that, but Navarro was tagged out at home on a fielder’s choice before Fister retired Tim Anderson to limit the damage.
The White Sox had a chance to pad their lead in the third, but Adam Eaton couldn’t beat the throw home on a two-out single by Brett Lawrie. Eaton leaped over the head of catcher Evan Gattis on the play, but Gattis was still able to apply the tag.
Danny Worth drew a walk to start Houston’s third before a bunt single by Jake Marisnick. Houston tied it at 2-2 when Worth scored on a sacrifice bunt by Marwin Gonzalez and took the lead on an RBI single by Altuve.
After a short coaching visit to the mound, Carlos Correa pushed the lead to 4-2 on a run-scoring single.
“We did a lot right that inning,” Hinch said. “We had to manufacture some runs.”
Sale settled down after that, retiring 13 of the next 14 batters he faced, until George Springer singled to start the eighth. Gonzalez reached on an error by Todd Frazier after that to end Sale’s day.
Sale, who tossed a complete game against Houston on May 19, improved to 5-1 with a 1.31 ERA and 65 strikeouts in six career starts against the Astros.
Shuck’s two-out home run to the seats in right field got Chicago within 4-3 in the fourth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: RHP Lance McCullers will start for Houston on Monday after missing his last start with a blister on his right index finger.
UP NEXT
White Sox: Jose Quintana (5-3, 3.18) will start for Chicago on Sunday. Quintana looks to get back on track after going 0-7 with a 4.58 ERA in his last nine starts.
Astros: Collin McHugh (5-5, 4.58) is scheduled to pitch for Houston on Sunday. McHugh is searching for his first win since May 30 after getting one loss and four no-decisions in his last five starts.