White Sox bullpen covers 8 2/3 innings to beat Astros
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
HOUSTON (AP) _ Chris Volstad and Chicago’s bullpen covered 8 2/3 innings after starter Carson Fulmer left with a blister, and the White Sox beat the Houston Astros 3-1 on Thursday night.
Volstad (1-0) got his first win since 2012 with the Chicago Cubs. He allowed a run over 4 1/3 innings, and six relievers kept Houston scoreless from there. Juan Minaya worked around two walks in the ninth for his fifth save.
Tim Anderson homered to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games, and Kevan Smith added two hits for Chicago.
The victory snaps a six-game winning streak for the Astros, who clinched the AL West on Sunday but are still making a push for the league’s best record.
Chicago built a 2-0 lead off Dallas Keuchel (13-5) by the third inning. Brian McCann got Houston within 1 on a solo homer in the bottom of the inning.
Anderson launched a towering shot to center to begin the eighth inning. He has two homers, three doubles and six RBIs during this streak.
Hamels tames Mariners, Rangers stay close in wild-card hunt
SEATTLE (AP) _ Cole Hamels dominated for eight innings, Adrian Beltre and Shin-Soo Choo went deep and the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Thursday night to hang around the AL wild-card hunt.
Texas and the Los Angeles Angels are 2 1/2 games behind Minnesota for the second wild card. The Angels lost to Cleveland, while the Twins blew out Detroit.
Hamels (11-4) allowed three hits and a run while striking out eight. He gave up a solo homer to Nelson Cruz _ his 35th _ in the seventh, along with a pair of singles to Jean Segura.
Keone Kela got his second save despite yielding a solo homer to Robinson Cano in the ninth. It was Cano’s 22nd this season and 300th of his career.
The Mariners have lost five straight games and are five back in the wild-card chase with nine games remaining.
James Paxton (12-5) allowed two runs in 3 2/3 choppy innings.