Luis Robert Jr. went 4-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs to carry the visiting Chicago White Sox to a 5-4 victory over Houston on Friday, snapping the Astros’ eight-game winning streak in the opener of a three-game series.
Robert smacked a two-run home run to left field off Astros rookie right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (5-11) in the third inning and homered again off Arrighetti in the fifth to extend the White Sox to a 4-1 advantage.
After the Astros sliced that three-run deficit to 4-3 with their two-run sixth, Robert struck again, lining an RBI single to center field off Astros reliever Kaleb Ort in the eighth.
Robert recorded his seventh career multi-homer game. His 415-foot shot in the third drove home Nicky Lopez, who opened that frame with a leadoff single. The White Sox secured a 1-0 lead against Arrighetti in the second when Andrew Vaughn scored on Dominic Fletcher’s fielder’s choice grounder.
When Robert clubbed his 14th home run with two outs in the second, it carried only 329 feet down the line in left.
Arrighetti, who amassed 33 strikeouts over his last three starts, allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. Astros reliever Bryan King was charged with the insurance run in the eighth after surrendering a single to Fletcher that Robert followed three batters later with a run-scoring single.
Lopez and Andrew Benintendi both recorded two hits for the White Sox.
White Sox left-hander Garret Crochet, who allowed one run on four hits in four innings, struck out nine and leads the majors with 12.71 strikeouts per nine innings. Crochet surrendered an RBI single to Yordan Alvarez with two outs in the third and failed to pitch into the fifth for the seventh consecutive start.
The Astros lost despite receiving a two-run home run from Jake Meyers, his 12th, in the sixth and a pinch-homer from Jon Singleton with two outs in the ninth. Singleton socked his 10th home run off White Sox reliever Chad Kuhl, who notched his first save.
Justin Anderson (1-0) earned the win in relief with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
–Field Level Media