Cam Smith celebrates a two-run homer against the White Sox.
Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Cam Smith hits a two-run homer in the sixth inning against the White Sox.
Jayden Mack/Getty Images
Yordan Alvarez celebrates a run in Houston’s game against the White Sox.
Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Isaac Parades celebrates a run in Houston’s game against the White Sox.
Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
CHICAGO — Lengthening a top-heavy lineup is essential for the Houston Astros, be it by trade deadline moves or production from hitters who already populate their order. Jeremy Peña, Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes combined to drive in 14 of 18 runs they scored in a sweep over the Marlins this week, a formula that seems unsustainable for a club aiming to contend.
An outburst Friday hinged on two swings from hitters who can ameliorate that issue. Christian Walker delivered a bases-clearing double in the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox. Two batters later, Cam Smith, held out of the lineup all three games against Miami to work on his swing, hit a go-ahead home run into the left-field seats at Rate Field.
Those swings keyed an eight-run inning for the Astros, who began it facing a five-run deficit and rode it to a 9-5 win in the opener of a series in Chicago. They moved to 51-54 with a fourth consecutive win.
ARRIGHETTI’S EXIT: An injured right foot cuts start short
“We’ve got a lot of good hitters in this lineup, and I think everybody holds themselves to a really high standard and high expectations,” Walker said. “And when you have the top showing everybody how to do it and leading the way I think you want to keep it going, for sure. It’s contagious.”
A strong bullpen effort made this win possible. Starter Spencer Arrighetti worked just one inning before exiting with nerve irritation in his right foot. Six relievers combined to hold the White Sox in check. AJ Blubaugh and Kai-Wei Teng each worked two innings. Teng allowed two runs in the fifth, which scored on a wild pitch and a Chase Meidroth double, the only damage against the relief corps.
“Our bullpen did a nice job keeping us in that game,” manager Joe Espada said. “Huge eight-spot – we couldn’t do that without our bullpen.”
Article continues below this ad
IN THE ZONE: Bryan Abreu’s path back to key situations
Cristian Javier warmed as the sixth began. The Astros’ big inning altered their bullpen calculus. Bennett Sousa worked a scoreless eighth with a new three-run lead. Bryan Abreu drew the bottom of Chicago’s order in a clean seventh, allowing left-hander Steven Okert to face its heavily left-handed top including slugger Munetaka Murakami.
Sam Antonacci lined a leadoff double in the eighth. Smith made a sliding catch of Murakami’s sinking liner to rob him of a hit and help Okert escape the inning unscathed. Closer Josh Hader was warming before Christian Vázquez struck a two-out RBI double to give Houston a four-run lead. Hader entered anyway, in a non-save situation, and notched the final three outs.
Arrighetti’s early exit— and injury outlook — could reverberate for days. Houston’s bullpen covered seven innings in the first game of its six-game road trip. Eight games remain before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, during which a front office that plans to buy must decide where to prioritize upgrading the roster. More impact from the lower half of its lineup, like it received Friday, could help clarify the approach.
Sixth-inning outburst
White Sox starter Davis Martin worked his first five innings scoreless. The Astros put just two runners in scoring position in them. Yordan Alvarez flied out to end the second with men on first and third. Jeremy Peña struck out with two on to end the fifth.
“I think we were putting good at-bats out there and it felt like it was just a matter of time,” Walker said. “But just strung together some really good at-bats, kept the momentum going.”
Martin returned to the mound to start the sixth. Alvarez scorched a changeup for a leadoff single. Martin ran a sinker into Isaac Paredes’ right hand. Jose Altuve pulled another for a single that loaded the bases. LaMonte Wade grounded a single through the right side to drive in Houston’s first run.
It also ended Martin’s night. Left-hander Bryan Hudson brought reverse splits into a matchup with the right-handed-hitting Walker. Walker pulled a sweeper on the ground just inside the third-base line and into the left-field corner, driving in all three runners.
“I was just trying to be on the fastball,” Walker said. “With the angles and the ride to the fastball, I didn’t want to overcomplicate it, so I wanted to be on time with the heater and just react and luckily that slider stayed on the plate.”
With one swing, Walker surpassed his RBI total from his first 15 games in July (two). A top-heavy lineup thirsts for the impact he can provide. Only Alvarez has driven in more runs this season among Houston hitters. Hudson struck out Lucas Spence, the inning’s first out on its sixth batter.
Smith, who had struck out and bounced into a fielder’s choice in two at-bats against Martin, turned on a 2-2 fastball from Hudson and drove it 383 feet into the left-field seats. He started the at-bat 6-for-48 this month with two extra-base hits. This one flipped a one-run deficit for Houston into a one-run lead.
“When those guys get on base, now Jeremy comes up with people on base, Yordan gets people on base, and it gets longer and it’s more trouble for the opposing pitching,” Espada said.
The rally continued. Peña beat a two-out infield single. After a Hudson balk, the White Sox intentionally walked Alvarez. Seranthony Domínguez entered, the third pitcher of the inning, and walked Paredes to reload the bases. An infield hit by Altuve added a run. Domínguez walked Wade to force in another.
A strikeout of Walker, the 14th batter the Astros sent up in the sixth, ended the inning. Alvarez, Paredes, Altuve and Wade all reached base twice in the eight-run frame.
Article continues below this ad
Arrighetti exits in second
Arrighetti threw 33 pitches in a shaky first inning in which he walked two batters, hit two others, allowed two hits and gave up three runs. He returned to the mound to begin warming up for the second, threw a warmup pitch and took several steps off the mound. Espada and a trainer emerged to check Arrighetti, who was removed without throwing another pitch.
The Astros said Arrighetti exited with “right foot nerve irritation.” Arrighetti said the issue was located between his third and fourth toes on his foot, which he uses to push off the mound. Arrighetti said he had not felt the issue before Friday and thought he might have irritated the nerve during his warmup, but he thought he could pitch through it.
“But I got out there for the first and it bothered me on just about every pitch I threw,” Arrighetti said. “It’s my foot that I push off the mound with too, so it felt like things weren’t coming out right. And I thought I was going to be able to just push through it, but I went back out for the second inning to test it out and it was really bothering me.”
Arrighetti said he was unsure what his next steps would be. Hayden Wesneski, who made likely his final rehab start Friday with Triple-A Sugar Land, could be a logical plug-in should Arrighetti be sidelined.
Called up in mid-April after starting the season at Triple-A, Arrighetti posted a 1.34 ERA in his first eight starts for the Astros this season and was named the American League pitcher of the month for May.
In his ensuing eight starts, Arrighetti posted a 7.88 ERA, with the Astros losing six of those games. He entered Friday with a 7-5 record and a 4.34 ERA through 87 major-league innings this season.
Thaiss signs minor-league deal
The Astros signed catcher Matt Thaiss to a minor-league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Sugar Land, the affiliate announced Friday.
Article continues below this ad
Thaiss, 31, has played in parts of seven major-league seasons with the Angels, White Sox and Rays. He spent the first part of this season with the Triple-A affiliate of the Red Sox, who released him last week.
César Salazar and Collin Price, the Astros’ catching depth options at Triple-A, are on the minor-league injured list. Price was placed on the minor-league IL on June 16 and Salazar was added Wednesday.
Thaiss, a left-handed hitter, likely represents experienced depth in case the Astros faced an immediate need to call up a catcher. He has a .210/.320/.332 slash line across 305 career major-league games.
Article continues below this ad