Yordan Alvarez homers, drives in 2 as Astros beat White Sox 5-3

CHICAGO (AP) — Yordan Alvarez homered in the first inning and drove in a run during a four-run seventh as the Houston Astros rallied past the Chicago White Sox 5-3 on Thursday.

Alvarez made it 1-0 with a 439-foot drive to right against Chris Flexen for his 15th homer, and his single in the seventh tied the game at 3-all. The two-time All-Star finished with three hits after missing the previous two games for a family matter.

Alex Bregman added three hits and scored a run for the Astros, who won their second straight after dropping the opener of a three-game series against the team with the worst record in the majors.

Flexen worked six innings, allowing one run and five hits. The White Sox fell to 20-56 with their 26th loss in 32 games.

Chicago chased Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti in a three-run fifth.

Martín Maldonado led off with a single on a pop fly that deflected off second baseman Jose Altuve’s glove and came around on a one-out double by Luis Robert Jr. Andrew Vaughn knocked Arrighetti out of the game with an RBI single, and Andrew Benintendi made it 3-1 with a sacrifice fly against Tayler Scott.

Houston sent 10 batters to the plate in the seventh.

Mauricio Dubón led off with a double against Steven Wilson (1-4) that extended his hitting streak to 13 games and scored on Altuve’s single. Alvarez grounded an RBI single past a diving second baseman Danny Mendick against Tanner Banks. The Astros took a 4-3 lead when third baseman Lenyn Sosa threw low to first after fielding a chopper by pinch-hitter Cooper Hummel with two out, allowing Bregman to score.

Justin Anderson came in for Chicago and walked Jake Meyers and Jeremy Peña to force in another run, making it 5-3.

Arrighetti was charged with three runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings. Four relievers combined to hold the White Sox to one hit, with Scott (3-2) recording five outs and Josh Hader working the ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances.

TRAINER'S ROOM

White Sox: RHP Mike Clevinger (right elbow inflammation) is expected to throw 70 to 75 pitches in a rehab start on Sunday. He threw 55 for Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday. ... DH Eloy Jiménez (strained left hamstring) could return next week, though manager Pedro Grifol said he is “not real sure” which day.

UP NEXT

Astros: The Astros plan to call up RHP Jake Bloss from Double-A Corpus Christi to make his major league debut against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday and fill a hole in their injury-depleted rotation. Bloss, a third-round draft pick out of Georgetown in 2023, has a 1.74 ERA over 12 starts in Class A and Double-A. RHP Grayson Rodriguez (8-2, 3.20 ERA) pitches for Baltimore.

White Sox: RHP Erick Fedde (5-1, 3.09) looks to win his second straight start as the White Sox open a three-game series at Detroit. RHP Jack Flaherty (4-4, 3.01) gets the ball for the Tigers.

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