Giolito bombed, Moncada hurt as Astros romp to 13-3 win over Sox

The White Sox seemingly turned the corner in Detroit to start their road trip.

Before getting Thursday off, the Sox swept a three-game series while outscoring the Tigers 27-6.

Moving into Houston Friday night for the first of three against the Astros, the Sox hit another wall.

Lucas Giolito got off to a shaky start, giving up a 2-run homer to Alex Bregman in the first inning and a solo shot to Yuli Gurriel in the second to put the White Sox in an early 3-0 hole against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year.

The game did take a positive turn for a bit, as Giolito settled down and AJ Pollock hit a 3-run homer off Houston starter Framber Valdez to tie it in the third inning.

Giolito fell apart in the sixth as the Astros exploded for 10 runs and went on to win 13-3 at Minute Maid Park.

It was the first time Houston has scored at least 10 runs in an inning since getting 11 in the eighth against Minnesota on May 29, 2017, to rally for a 16-8 win.

In his fourth straight subpar start, Giolito gave up 8 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks over 5-plus innings.

"The first couple innings, home runs on not good pitches, missed pitches," Giolito told reporters. "And in the sixth inning, it was just a whole lot of bad execution."

Over his last four starts, Giolito has pitched 20⅔ innings and given up 23 runs on 29 hits and 10 walks.

"At the end of the day, I just need to be better," he said. "This is pretty godawful. That's pretty much it."

Yoan Moncada, who broke out with a 5-for-6 effort at Detroit Wednesday while driving in 5 runs, hurt his right hamstring running to first base in the second inning and left the game in the third.

The third baseman was still being evaluated after the game.

"He felt something in his leg, so that's not good," White Sox manager Tony La Russa said.

Moncada has dealt with hamstring issues for years and he missed the first month of this season with an oblique strain.

There was some good news on the injury front Friday.

Shortstop Tim Anderson (groin) has been out since May 29 and he's currently on a rehab assignment with Class AAA Charlotte.

Anderson played in his fourth game with the Knights Friday night and was 1-for-4. La Russa said Anderson is on target to be back with the Sox Monday against the Blue Jays at Guaranteed Rate Field.