Astros 'just keep winning' with sweep of Sox

The Astros completed a four-game sweep of the White Sox with an 8-2 win on Father’s Day at Minute Maid Park, taking care of a Chicago team that came into the series with a share of the best record in the Majors.

A five-run third inning led to White Sox starter Dallas Keuchel’s early exit in his return to Houston, and Carlos Correa illustrated the offensive onslaught in the fourth with a solo shot that sent the Minute Maid Park crowd into a frenzy. Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. provided a solid pitching performance to go along with the success of the offense, posting his sixth quality start of the year as he allowed three earned runs and struck out four in six innings of work.

With Boston and Oakland also losing on Sunday, Houston’s win gave the team a share of the top spot in the American League.

“It's obviously always great to get a sweep, and [it coming against] a great team like the White Sox is great, but at the same time, it's just June, man,” Correa said. “You want to win games, but it's not the World Series just yet. We want to keep playing good baseball, want to stay consistent, and who knows, maybe we'll see them in October at some point.”

That’s the story of Sunday’s win. The real story, though, remains the Astros’ hot streak in June.

They’ve now won each of their previous six series, their last series loss coming at the end of May against the Padres. Houston’s 15-5 record (including an active seven-game winning streak) over its last 20 games has brought the club to a tie with the A’s atop the AL West.

“I think everything is starting to kind of come along,” McCullers said. “We've had to run through a lot of tough teams here, especially this first half of the season, and I think that our guys have played extremely well. You’ve just got to keep winning ballgames.”

The offense has led the way, with their .315 average, .386 OBP, .574 slugging and .960 OPS at the end of their win on Sunday being the top marks in the Majors over the last 15 days.

Not to be outdone, the pitching staff has posted a 2.87 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP and a .199 opponents’ average to lead the AL in all three categories over the same stretch. McCullers’ outing continued the staff’s stymying of the White Sox bats, as Houston’s pitchers held Chicago to just eight runs over the four-game set.

The Astros have excelled defensively, too. Coming into Sunday, only the Rays had committed fewer errors this season, and Houston’s .988 fielding percentage was tied for second among all big league clubs.

On Sunday, the infield turned three double plays to back McCullers, and in the seventh inning, Correa made a Derek Jeter-esque throw from the hole at short to rob White Sox left fielder Andrew Vaughn of a hit.

• Dusty Baker shares baseball memories with his son

If Astros manager Dusty Baker had any qualms about his team’s performance Sunday, they were small. The Astros leaving 12 runners on base, not scoring more in bases-loaded situations and not driving in Michael Brantley after his one-out triple in the seventh were things Baker thinks Houston can still improve on.

“We're not clicking yet,” Baker said. “We're winning, but we're not clicking on all cylinders yet. We're close.”

Even with regular starters Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker on the injured list, joined by a host of bullpen arms, the all-hands-on-deck approach has brought the Astros back to the forefront of the AL playoff picture.

“Now we're back tied for first place [in the division], which is where we wanted to be all along,” Baker said. “We were winning. The A's were winning. If you just keep winning, then sooner or later, you can catch them. I mean, that's the secret.”