Javier, Pressly, and unexpected heroes help Astros take series over White Sox

Despite suffering in the last minute, the Astros came up with the win 4-3 against the White Sox on Sunday Night Baseball to take the three-game series. Even though Chicago tried to rally and tie the game, closer Ryan Pressly had things under control to seal the victory. Houston enjoyed the performance of two unexpected heroes: JJ Matijevic and Mauricio Dubón, who hit a home run apiece.

After snapping his 15-game hitting streak on Saturday, Kyle Tucker registered an early RBI single to put the Astros ahead 1-0. That lead was extended in the fourth with Matijevic’s first career home run, a solo shot off fireballer Michael Kopech to make it 2-0.

On the pitching side, Cristian Javier was in control. The young righty, who picked up his fourth win (4-3), surrendered two hits and an earned run over five innings. Javier struggled a bit with control as he walked four hitters, although he struck out five opponents.

The only run allowed by Javier came in the fifth inning via an RBI single from Luis Robert. In the bottom of the fifth, Dubón homered against Kopech as well for his first long ball as an Astro (17 games with the team). With a runner on board, Dubón made it 4-1, the offensive play of the game for Houston.

However, things were not gonna come that easy for the Astros. After Javier’s night was over, Ryne Stanek and Rafael Montero worked scoreless innings to hand the ball to Héctor Neris – Stanek extended his streak of 19 scoreless appearances, the second-best in the MLB this year among relievers.

After surrendering five earned runs between April and May, Neris has been punished with eighth earned runs across six innings in seven appearances this month (12.00 ERA). However, Pressly retired the ninth to get his 13th save of the campaign.

The Astros will get back to action on Tuesday, hosting the red-hot Mets for a two-game matchup at Minute Maid Park. José Urquidy is expected to start for Houston, while the Mets are yet to announce their starter.

VIDEOS AND BOX SCORE HERE.