HOUSTON — The Chicago White Sox were in a position to break through in the eighth inning Wednesday against the Houston Astros. Tristan Peters was on third and Drew Romo on first with no outs in a scoreless game. The Astros brought the infield in and Sam Antonacci hit a grounder to shortstop Jeremy Peña. Peters headed home and was thrown out at the plate. “On the first and third there with Tristan, you go right there and maybe you try and get into a rundown there but trying to stay out of the double play, which really hurts you,” manager Will Venable said. “It was one of those where Tristan did the right thing by going and obviously just weren’t able to advance the back-side runners.” The Sox still had runners on first and second with one out. Munetaka Murakami lined a single to right field. Romo slightly hesitated off second and held up at third. “Just a hard-hit ball to right field,” Romo said. “Just take a look at the right fielder, trying to see. If that ball is hit right at him and I take off running without looking, then it’s a double play and you are asking me the same question.” Batting with the bases loaded, Miguel Vargas then grounded into an inning-ending double play. The Astros made the most of their chance in the bottom of the eighth, with Nelson Velázquez delivering a two-out, two-run single. That was the difference as the Astros defeated the Sox 2-0 in front of 24,025 at Daikin Park. “Just opportunities that we had and weren’t able to cash any of those runs in,” Venable said. The first-place Sox (73-66) remain three games ahead of the second-place Cleveland Guardians (70-69) in the American League Central. The Guardians also lost Wednesday, falling 11-0 to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Sox received a strong outing from starter Davis Martin in their loss. The right-hander scattered five hits, struck out three and walked one in 5 2/3 scoreless innings as he made his return from the injured list. “Just try to take it one pitch at a time, trying to be as slow and monotonous as possible,” Martin said. “Convicted with every pitch. Can’t get three outs with one pitch. Just truly trying to make one pitch at a time, trying to be (as) present as I could.” It was his first outing since Aug. 13 against the Cincinnati Reds, when he was ejected in the third inning after hitting Sal Stewart with a pitch. Martin noted a blister that had developed played a factor in the situation. He went on the injured list the next day with a blister on his right middle finger. Martin worked out of a pair of jams on Wednesday. That included a first-and-third, no-out situation in the fourth, where he got a popout, strikeout and flyout. The Sox had an opportunity earlier in the game against Astros starter Hayden Wesneski. Runners were on first and second with one out in the second inning when Chase Meidroth hit a soft line drive to second baseman Jose Altuve, who dropped the ball. Altuve threw to second base for a force out. Andrew Benintendi, the runner on second, got caught in a rundown and was tagged out to end the inning. Venable checked with the umpires, who said Altuve didn’t drop it intentionally. “I went out there just to ask,” Venable said. “It was just kind of a funny play. Usually guys make those plays. Kind of a little floater in between there where obviously it’s not going to be an infield fly. But a ball where it’s tough to get two outs on that play.” Wesneski allowed one hit in seven innings, striking out five and walking two. The Sox missed out on the chances in the eighth despite all the traffic against reliever AJ Blubaugh. The Sox contemplated pinch-running for Romo during the inning. Related Articles
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“We talked about it and trust in Drew there,” Venable said. “At the same time, he’s catching a shutout there, with (reliever Sean Newcomb) going back out, which was the plan. Definitely a thought and obviously if you go back, probably would have chosen to do it. But it was a decision that we talked about and thought that we were in a good spot and trusted Drew to make the right move.” The Astros loaded the bases with one out on a single, a walk and Altuve being hit by a pitch. The Sox challenged the ruling on the hit by pitch, but the call stood. Newcomb got Daulton Varsho to bounce back to the mound and got a force at home plate for the second out. Velázquez singled sharply to center on a 1-1 slurve, driving in the only two runs of the game. Josh Hader pitched a perfect ninth inning for the Astros as the Sox suffered a tough loss. “We had a lot of opportunities,” Romo said. “Our pitching was really good. Davis did great. The bullpen did great. And we had our chances to score on offense. When I was there on second base, we also had a runner on third, we had bases loaded. “We had multiple opportunities to score and we didn’t come through. It’s nobody’s fault in particular. It’s just a collective group thing.”