White Sox ambush Hunter Brown, Meidroth’s three-run homer finishes 7-3 win over Astros

Brown was gone before the first inning was over

Chicago built the game’s shape almost immediately. Kyle Teel opened the scoring with a single to right that brought home Sam Antonacci, then Andrew Benintendi lined a single to centre that scored Teel and pushed Miguel Vargas to third. When centre fielder Lucas Spence threw the ball away, Vargas came home as well, and Tristan Peters added another run with a single to right. Before Houston could record the third out of the opening inning, the White Sox had a 4-0 lead.

Hunter Brown never found a reset. His line finished at two-thirds of an inning, five hits, four runs, three earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts on 36 pitches. That short start forced Houston into its bullpen almost immediately, and it also left the Astros chasing a game that had tilted hard before their offence had a second turn through the order.

Houston did answer with power. Jeremy Peña cut the deficit to 4-1 with a first-inning homer to left-centre, Cam Smith followed with a 440-foot shot to left in the second, and Jose Altuve added another solo drive in the fourth to make it 4-3. Those swings kept the Astros close, but they also defined the limit of their attack: every run came on a ball over the wall, and no inning produced the kind of sustained rally that could wipe away Chicago’s first-inning surge.

Meidroth supplied the swing Houston could not match

The score stayed at 4-3 until the sixth, when Chase Meidroth turned the night again. His homer to left scored Luisangel Acuña and Peters ahead of him and restored full control to Chicago at 7-3. In a game that had briefly narrowed to a single run, that was the separating blow — one clean swing that turned tension back into distance.

Meidroth’s stat line was the sharpest on the visiting side: 2-for-3, a homer, three RBIs and a walk. Teel added two hits and the first RBI of the night, while Benintendi and Peters each drove in a run and scored once. Chicago did not pile up hits all evening, but it landed them in the innings that mattered most and mixed in three stolen bases to keep extra traffic on Houston’s defence.

The Astros’ bullpen did steady things after Brown’s exit, but not enough to erase the damage. AJ Blubaugh gave Houston 1 1/3 scoreless innings, Bryan Abreu struck out six in 2 2/3, and Josh Hader covered the final 1 1/3 without allowing a run. Still, the White Sox only needed one more opening after the first, and Meidroth made sure that sixth-inning chance counted.

Our take: Houston’s power was real, but Chicago’s game was broader

The Astros’ offensive line was unusual because it was both dangerous and thin. Three of their five hits left the yard, yet the rest of the box score offered only two singles, one walk and 15 strikeouts. That kind of production can keep a team within reach for a while, as Houston did through four innings, but it is a difficult way to complete a comeback from an early four-run hole because there are too few baserunners to build a longer inning.

Chicago’s offence was broader, even if it was hardly perfect. The White Sox finished with eight hits, four walks and three stolen bases, but they also struck out 13 times and left 13 runners on base. That suggests an attack that created repeated opportunities without cashing all of them in. On another night, that inefficiency could keep an opponent alive longer. In this one, the first-inning burst and Meidroth’s homer covered for it.

What ultimately separated the clubs was the pitching after the game’s early jolt. Sean Burke allowed three solo homers in four innings, but he also struck out eight and did not issue a walk. After him, Huascar Brazoban, Anthony Kay, Jordan Hicks and Erick Fedde combined for five scoreless innings, one hit allowed, one walk and seven strikeouts. Houston got the score to 4-3, but it never drew level. Once Meidroth connected in the sixth, the White Sox finished the job with authority.

Scoring moments

1. 1st Inning

   Teel singled to right, Antonacci scored.

2. 1st Inning

   Benintendi singled to center, Teel scored, Vargas to third. Vargas scored on throwing error by center fielder Spence, Benintendi to second.

3. 1st Inning

   Peters singled to right, Benintendi scored.

4. 1st Inning

   Peña homered to left center (395 feet).

5. 2nd Inning

   Smith homered to left (440 feet).

6. 4th Inning

   Altuve homered to left (353 feet).

7. 6th Inning

   Meidroth homered to left (390 feet), Acuña scored and Peters scored.