Mike Clevinger's strong debut propels White Sox over Astros

Mike Clevinger logged five scoreless innings and Yoan Moncada had three extra-base hits as the visiting Chicago White Sox picked up a 6-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday to salvage a split of the four-game series.

Clevinger (1-0) surrendered three hits and three walks while striking out eight to pick up the victory in his White Sox debut. Moncada went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a two-run homer in the ninth.

Luis Robert Jr. also had a pair of hits, including a tiebreaking solo shot in the fifth inning off Houston starter Luis Garcia. Garcia (0-1) also went five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Jose Abreu and David Hensley had RBI singles in the bottom of the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but Reynaldo Lopez got Chas McCormick to pop out to end the game.

Astros third baseman Alex Bregman continued to struggle, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He went 0-for-16 in the series.

The White Sox had a golden opportunity to get on the board in the second inning when they loaded the bases with no outs, but Garcia struck out Oscar Colas and Elvis Andrus before getting Tim Anderson to ground out to snuff the threat.

After Robert gave the visitors a 1-0 lead, Houston threatened in the home half of the fifth after Bregman walked and Abreu ripped a two-out single. Hensley then sent a sharp line drive to right, but Colas made a sliding catch to prevent the Astros from drawing even.

That missed opportunity proved to be costly, as the White Sox tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth thanks to Andrew Vaughn's RBI single and a run-scoring double from Colas.

Gregory Santos' wild pitch plated McCormick to cut Houston's deficit to 3-1, but Anderson doubled in the eighth to drive in Colas to re-establish Chicago's three-run lead. Moncada then sealed the victory with his blast to left-center field.