Chicago White Sox vs Houston Astros

HOUSTON -- — Jose Altuve hit a two-run homer and Daulton Varsho drove in two runs with a triple to lead the Houston Astros to a 6-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. The Astros lead the AL West by 2 1/2 games over the second-place Rangers after winning three of four games in this series against the AL Central leaders. The game was tied and the Astros had runners on first and second with one out in the third after Luis Castillo hit Yordan Alvarez on the shoulder with a pitch. Isaac Paredes smashed an RBI double off the left-field wall to put the Astros on top. There were two outs in the inning when Varsho's triple scored two more and push the lead to 5-2. An RBI single by Christian Walker made it 6-2. Castillo (4-11) yielded six hits and six runs in just four innings in the loss. Hunter Brown (5-3) allowed six hits and two runs with seven strikeouts in six innings for his second straight win. Miguel Vargas and Chase Meidroth had two hits each for the White Sox, who went 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position to lose for the fourth time in five games. Paredes walked with two outs in the first before Altuve’s shot to the seats in left field gave Houston an early lead. The White Sox had runners on first and third with two outs in the second when Jake Rogers singled to cut the lead to 2-1. Sam Antonacci followed with an RBI single on a grounder to left field to tie it. Up next Chicago RHP Erick Fedde (7-8, 4.16 ERA) starts against RHP Zebby Matthews (9-8, 4.58) on Friday night in the opener of a three-games series against Minnesota. Houston RHP Cristian Javier (1-5, 6.45) opposes RHP Merrill Kelly (9-12, 5.08) on Friday night in the first of three games against the Diamondbacks. ------ See AP’s full MLB coverage here