HOUSTON-Jose Altuve homered, Alex Bregman hit an RBI double and the AL West champion Houston Astros extended their winning streak to five games with a 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.
Collin McHugh (3-2) allowed one run and five hits with five strikeouts in five innings for Houston. It was the right-hander's first outing since detaching a fingernail on his pitching hand Sept. 8.
McHugh has made only 10 starts this season after also missing time with a shoulder issue.
Will Harris, Luke Gregerson and Chris Devenski each threw a scoreless inning before Ken Giles pitched the ninth for his 32nd save.
Altuve went the other way for his 24th home run, a solo shot to right field in the fourth. Bregman knocked in Marwin Gonzalez later in the inning to give the Astros a 2-1 lead.
George Springer made it 3-1 in the eighth, just getting his fingertips on home plate and avoiding Kevan Smith's tag. On the play, Altuve grounded out to third and was thrown out at first, but Smith never tagged Springer after taking the throw from first baseman Jose Abreu. After Springer was initially called out, the play was reviewed and the call was overturned.
Abreu hit an RBI double in the third to put the White Sox up 1-0. Yoan Moncada had three singles for the White Sox.
Lucas Giolito (2-3) threw well for a second straight start, giving up two runs and seven hits over 6 2/3 innings for Chicago.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Astros: RHP Lance McCullers Jr., scratched from his most recent scheduled start with arm fatigue, will throw a bullpen Wednesday. . 3B Colin Moran (facial fracture) returned from the disabled list. Moran had been on the DL since July 23 after taking a foul ball off his face.
CORREA THINKING OF PUERTO RICO
Astros SS Carlos Correa played thinking of his homeland of Puerto Rico, which was forecast to be struck by Category 5 Hurricane Maria on Wednesday.
"It's going to crush the island," Correa said. "My thoughts and prayers to everyone over there. I have most of my family over there, so I'm really worried about that. My parents and siblings are the only ones over here, so I have a lot of people over there."
Correa said he had talked to his relatives in Puerto Rico and they have prepared for the storm, but it is forecast to go directly over Puerto Rico.
"I have to focus on what I have to do here, but I can't help but think about my family over there in Puerto Rico and how bad it can get," Correa said. "I'm really worried. I'm going to go out there tonight and perform to the best of my abilities, but as soon as I am done with the game, I'm going to call my grandparents to see how they're doing."
UP NEXT
White Sox: RHP James Shields (4-6) goes for his third straight win Wednesday. Shields allowed four runs and nine hits in his last start Thursday at Detroit.
Astros: RHP Brad Peacock (11-2) makes his 20th start of the season, looking for another strong outing after allowing one run in six innings Thursday against the Angels.