Astros at White Sox (Game 2)
On the verge of winning their ninth game in a row with a dramatic ninth-inning comeback, the Houston Astros instead were victimized by a walk-off home run to temporary slow their momentum. Following a rainout of Monday's series opener, the Astros hope to begin another long winning streak when they visit the Chicago White Sox for a doubleheader on Tuesday.
Despite the stunning 8-7 loss at Baltimore on Sunday, Houston has been an offensive juggernaut this month, scoring 87 runs during its 8-1 stretch. Carlos Correa has homered five times and collected 13 RBIs over his last 10 games after going deep on back-to-back days while rookie Yordan Alvarez has registered five blasts and 15 RBIs during his nine-game hitting streak. Chicago managed only three runs and was shut out twice while dropping two of three at home to Oakland over the weekend, and may be hard-pressed to do much better on Tuesday with 14-game winner Gerrit Cole getting the nod for Houston a few hours after Zack Greinke makes his second start with his new team. Tim Anderson has hit safely in all 10 games this month but has notched only three singles in 14 at-bats against Houston this season.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Southwest (Houston), NBCS Chicago Plus
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Gerrit Cole (14-5, 2.87 ERA) vs. White Sox RH Ivan Nova (7-9, 4.80)
Cole extended the longest active winning streak in the major leagues to a career-high 10 games Wednesday against Colorado, serving up two solo homers among the three hits he allowed while registering 10 strikeouts over six innings. The three-time All-Star leads the majors with 226 strikeouts and is unbeaten in his last 14 outings, yielding more than two earned runs only once in that span. Cole's dominant streak began one start after the White Sox pounded him for six runs in five frames en route to a loss on May 22.
Nova has turned around his season over his last four starts, going 3-0 with a 0.64 ERA while leading the White Sox to wins in each of those outings after posting a 4-9 record and 5.86 ERA over his first 20 turns. The 32-year-old only recorded one strikeout Wednesday in Detroit, but he still managed to hold the Tigers scoreless over eight innings. Nova notched the win against Houston opposite Cole in late May despite allowing three runs and 10 hits in seven frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. Correa has collected 14 RBIs in 19 career games against the White Sox.
2. Chicago CF Leury Garcia has hit safely in seven straight contests.
3. Alvarez has recorded multiple hits in six of his last nine games.