CHICAGO – Jed Lowrie, Brett Wallace and Brian Bogusevic homered and the Houston Astros got a strong effort from their bullpen to beat the Chicago White Sox 8-3 on Friday night.
Houston's win was just its third in the last 13 games. Chicago lost for the fourth time in 15 games.
Lowrie's 11th homer, following a two-out walk to Jordan Schafer, gave the Astros a 4-0 lead in the fifth inning. Chicago starter Gavin Floyd (4-6) , who has given up six homers in his last two starts, walked two, threw two wild pitches and struck out nine over six innings.
Wallace had a solo shot off Floyd in the second, and Bogusevic delivered a three-run homer in the ninth off Will Ohman.
Wandy Rodriguez (5-4) gave up nine hits and three runs in 5 1-3 innings. Four relievers pitched shutout ball over the final 3 2-3 innings.
The White Sox had several early opportunities against Rodriguez, finally breaking through a with a run in the fifth on Alejandro De Aza's double, a fly ball that moved him to third and Adam Dunn's hard RBI grounder that Houston second baseman Jose Altuve flagged down in shallow right with a nice stop and threw to first in time.
Alex Rios and A.J. Pierzynski doubled to start the sixth to make it 4-2, Pierzynski moved up on a grounder and scored on Alexei Ramirez's infield single, finishing Rodriguez and cutting the lead to one. Rodriguez gave up nine hits and three runs in 5 1-3 innings.
The Astros tagged on a run in the seventh when a single by Justin Maxwell and an error on Chicago shortstop Ramirez put runners at the corners. Altuve got caught leaving first base early, but in the rundown, Maxwell raced home from third with Houston's fifth run.
Wesley Wright came out of the bullpen to replace Wilton Lopez with runners at second and third in the seventh and retired Pierzynski on a grounder.
Altuve led off the game with a double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Lowrie's sacrifice fly. Wallace led off the second with his first homer. In his last five starts, Floyd has yielded 29 earned runs in 25 2-3 innings.
Notes: Chicago LF Dayan Viciedo left the game after five innings with tightness in both hamstrings and was replaced by Jordan Danks. ... Astros 3B Chris Johnson left after six innings because of nausea and was replaced by Brian Bixler ... Rodriguez of the Astros and Konerko and Pierzynski of the White Sox are the only remaining players from the 2005 World Series between the teams that saw Chicago pull off a four-game sweep. ... White Sox 3B Brent Morel, who had been on a rehab assignment at Charlotte, pulled himself out of a game Thursday and will be examined in Chicago. Morel's been on the DL with a strained lower back. ... The Astros placed SS Marwin Gonzalez (heel bruise) on the 15-day DL after Thursday's 14-2 loss to the Cardinals and recalled Bixler from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday.
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