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Friday night’s game was fun to watch. Tonight’s game not so much if you’re an Astros fan.
Coming into Saturday’s game, the Astros were flying high with a .662 winning percentage against teams above .500 and they had just beaten the White Sox for the fifth straight time behind Lance McCuller’s masterful pitching performance. However, they could not carry any momentum over as the White Sox dominated the Astros from the very start. White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito tore through the Astros lineup, only giving up a Michael Brantley double in the first and Abraham Toro home run.
Toro gets us on the board#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/XFz6vFB9Ff
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 18, 2021
Jake Odorizzi struggled on the mound as he gave up 4 earned runs, two via back to back home runs and his day was done. Our bullpen couldn’t do much better as Brandon Bielak, Joe Smith and Austin Pruitt all struggled to keep the White Sox bats at bay.
Interesting note about Pruitt, who made his Astros debut tonight, this is first time pitching since 2019
RHP Austin Pruitt (@aus13tin), from The Woodlands & @UHCougarBB, makes his debut for the #Astros. Rebounded from injury/surgery to pitch in the big leagues for the 1st time since 2019: “It felt amazing. It’s been a long road, been a long time since I was on a big league mound…” pic.twitter.com/Oqts8Nm09t
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) July 18, 2021
Astros manager Dusty Baker said matter of factly that it was just wasn’t the Astros night tonight
Dusty Baker: “I guess it was their night. We had beaten them five in a row.”
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) July 18, 2021
The Astros face off with the White Sox once again tomorrow as Framber Valdez (5-1, 2.98 ERA) takes the mound for the Astros versus Carlos Rodón (7-3, 2.31 ERA) at 1:10 CT on ATT Sportsnet