Astros Flatten White Sox Early, Sean Burke Shelled in Blowout Loss

The Chicago White Sox hopes of clinching their first road series win went up in smoke Wednesday night in a 10–2 blowout loss to the Houston Astros.

Starter Sean Burke didn't bring his A, B, or even C game. The right-hander failed to make it through five innings and got tagged for seven earned runs before manager Will Venable mercifully pulled the plug.

Burke's night started on the wrong foot in the first, when back-to-back doubles by Isaac Paredes and José Altuve gave the Astros a quick 1–0 lead. Two batters later, Christian Walker launched a two-run homer into the left field seats. Walker struck again in the third when he roped a two-out, two-run double after an Altuve single and a four-pitch walk to Yainer Diaz to make it 5–0.

Astros Pile On While Sox Stand Still

The fourth inning sealed it. Cam Smith doubled with one out, and Jeremy Peña followed with a two-out rocket off the left field scoreboard. Peña then stole third for good measure before scoring on another Paredes double. That officially ended Burke's day—if it ever really started.

Owen White made his White Sox debut in relief and gave the club exactly what it needed: innings. The 25-year-old tossed 3.1 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out five. Not terrible, but the real win was saving the bullpen for a game that might actually matter tomorrow.

No Rallies, No Rhythm, No Hope

Offensively, the Pale Hose finally stirred in the fifth, stringing together three of their eight hits for two runs, not that it mattered by then. Josh Rojas had two hits and came around to score the South Siders first run after reaching on an infield single.

Andrew Benintendi and Vinny Capra were responsible for the club's only extra-base hits. Capra scored on Miguel Vargas' two-out base hit. Chicago went just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

After drawing eight walks in the series opener, the Sox worked just one free pass in Game 2. They followed up their 13 strikeouts from Tuesday by whiffing 12 more times Wednesday. Progress?

What's On Tap Next

The rubber match of the three-game set is scheduled for Thursday night. Davis Martin will get the start for the White Sox, facing off against Astros lefty Framber Valdez. Both pitchers struggled in their most recent outings against these same teams, so expect the unexpected. 

First pitch is at 7:10 PM CT and will air on CHSN.