Sweet sweep! Hitters come together en route to FIRST PLACE and seventh straight W

We dare you to name the hottest team in baseball. What? Did you just say the Astros? HECK, YEAH! The ‘Stros’ offense came alive once again on Father’s Day, this time to beat the White Sox 8-2 and seal a four-game series sweep in Minute Maid Park. This was Houston’s seventh consecutive victory, enough to tie the Oakland Athletics in the AL West first place!

Just like in two of the other three games of the series, the Astros were the first team to score this time, thanks to an RBI single from Abraham Toro. But with Lance McCullers being a little bit inconsistent in the second inning, Jake Lamb put the White Sox ahead in the score with a two-run shot.

What followed was a five-run rally in the bottom third that ended up being enough to back up McCullers and finish the homestand with a perfect 6-0. Yordan Álvarez drove in two runs with a single, Taylor Jones hit an RBI double, and José Altuve and Chas McCormick got bases-loaded walks to make it 6-2.

Later, in the fourth episode, Carlos Correa hit his second home run in as many games while Michael Brantley continued his torrid June and added to the lead in the fifth with an RBI single that brought the final run of the game.

In general, it was a good day for Houston hitters. Toro recorded four hits for the first time in his career, Yordan had two RBIs, and McCormick, Brantley, and Correa combined for six hits in 11 at-bats. The guys showed run support for McCullers, who threw six innings of two hits, two earned runs, four walks, four strikeouts, and one home run. Lance took his fourth victory (4-1) and lowered his ERA to 2.90.

Blake Taylor and Ralph Garza Jr. followed McCullers with three scoreless innings of five punchouts.

These seven wins in a row represent the longest streak for the Astros during 2021 and help them head to Baltimore with good momentum. On Monday (7:05 pm ET), Houston is set to begin a three-game series visiting the Orioles. Jake Odorizzi will get the ball against the second-worst team in the MLB.

VIDEOS AND BOX SCORE HERE.