Peacock holds strong as Astros top White Sox
HOUSTON — The Chicago White Sox had their opportunity to climb back into contention facing a three-run deficit with the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the third inning, but confident, resilient Houston Astros starter Brad Peacock stood in their way Sunday at Minute Maid Park.
Peacock induced a timely double play to snuff that rally and earn his first victory on the season, riding a four-run second inning and two home runs from third baseman Matt Dominguez in the Astros’ 8-2 victory over Chicago.
Peacock (1-4) allowed two runs on five hits and four walks with five strikeouts before departing with two outs in the seventh inning. In the third, after White Sox catcher Adrian Nieto delivered an RBI single that cut the Houston lead to 4-1 and center fielder Adam Eaton reached on a walk, Peacock got second baseman Gordon Beckham to hit into a 1-2-3 double play.
“He wiggled out of it,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said of Peacock. “He walked some guys and gave us an opportunity, and he came up with a big comebacker, the pitcher, that got them out of it.”
Chicago third baseman Conor Gillaspie flew out to center to end the threat and pave the way for Peacock to breeze into the seventh inning.
“I felt like Peacock did a good job of taking his time,” Astros manager Bo Porter said of the double play. “A lot of times one person or another rushes and that play is not completed. But Peacock did a good job taking his time, giving (Astros catcher Carlos) Corporan the ball with enough time to clear himself from the runner and Corporan made a strong throw to first base. That was a really big play for them to get out of that inning with only one run.”
In his previous start, Peacock struck out a career-high 11 batters but received zero run support in a 4-0 home loss to the Texas Rangers on May 12. He made the most of his early lead on Sunday with an inning-ending double play in the sixth inning and nine total groundball outs.
“If you work down the whole time, the hitters will catch up to that,” Peacock said of his four-pitch repertoire. “But if you can mix it up and down, it’ll work out in your favor. It looks harder to the hitter when it’s up, and they can’t really catch up to it.”
The Astros (16-28) made sure an ineffective offense was not the issue in their rubber match with the scuffling White Sox (21-24), tagging Chicago left-hander John Danks (3-4) with a trio of home runs, including a pair of two-run dingers from Dominguez.
Dominguez drove in center fielder Dexter Fowler (1-for-3, walk, two runs) with his blasts in the third and fifth innings. Astros designated hitter Chris Carter started the homer binge with his 403-foot shot out of the park leading off the second. Shortstop Jonathan Villar added a two-run single in that inning and later scored when Nieto threw wildly attempting to erase the stealing Villar at third base.
Danks allowed all eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits and three walks while striking out seven over 4 2/3 innings. The White Sox lost six of eight after opening Sunday a season-high eight games out of first place in the American League Central behind the Detroit Tigers.
“I did a terrible job of keeping the ball in the ballpark, terrible job of getting in pitcher’s counts,” said Danks, a native of northern Austin suburb Round Rock. “I didn’t make a pitch when I needed to.
“This one stings a little bit. I was excited coming in, pitching at home — had a lot of people here … It sucks.”
NOTES: The White Sox placed 1B Jose Abreu on the 15-day disabled list with posterior tendonitis in his left ankle. Abreu appeared in the first 44 games for Chicago but ankle woes limited him to designated hitter duties in each of the last eight games. Abreu is batting .260/.312/.595 with 15 home runs and 42 RBIs. … The White Sox activated CF Adam Eaton from the 15-day disabled list. Eaton was placed on the DL on May 3 with a strained right hamstring. He completed his rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte on Saturday. … With his two-run home runs in the third and fifth innings, Astros 3B Matt Dominguez became the first Houston player to record multi-homer games this season.
