'La Pantera' bat in hand, Robert leads as White Sox snap Astros' streak

HOUSTON -- Maybe it was the bat?

Could it be the “La Pantera”-themed lumber used by White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. for Players Weekend that produced four hits and two home runs during a 5-4 victory over the Astros on Friday night at Minute Maid Park?

Was there a little extra power in there?

"Si,” said a smiling Robert.

Then again, it’s more likely to be the player.

In the case of Friday, the supreme talent of said player and his diligent work to get out of a season-long slump. Robert entered the opener of this six-game road trip with a .200/.262/.392 line to go with 12 homers, 12 doubles and 100 strikeouts over 250 at-bats.

"It was not a matter of if, but when,” said White Sox starter Garrett Crochet of the expected support provided by Robert. "We’ve all been rallying behind him. Everyone knew he was having a tough skid, but even through that skid, it was ‘when is he going to do it?’"

"This is a good start,” said Robert through interpreter Billy Russo. “But just because I had good results today [doesn't] mean I’m out of the jam. No. I still need to keep working and try to get more comfortable. But yeah, good results today."

Robert singled in the first before being thrown out by left fielder Yordan Alvarez as he tried to stretch the line drive into a double. He homered in the third at a Statcast-projected distance of 415 feet and homered again in the fifth on a drive that would have not gone out of any ballpark but Minute Maid.

His run-scoring single in the eighth provided the margin of victory for the White Sox (30-93), with Chad Kuhl picking up his second career save. Robert saw a total of 10 pitches all night, but the aggressiveness paid dividends.

"Yes, that was the plan,” said Robert, who has a .407/.417/.797 slash line against the Astros in 61 career plate appearances with 6 homers, 15 RBIs and 12 runs scored. “Today I was able to execute what I haven’t done before. Get advantage of the pitcher’s mistake. That was the big key."

"Luis Robert swung the bat really well and that was kind of the difference in tonight’s game," Houston manager Joe Espada said. “We had a pretty good plan and we’ve got to be able to hit our spots with him. He’s one of those guys if you miss your spot, he makes you pay."

Crochet struck out nine over four innings without issuing a walk, with 43 of his 55 pitches going for strikes. It was a stark contrast to Crochet’s last outing on Aug. 9 at home against the Cubs, when the All-Star yielded seven runs on nine hits with four home runs over 2 1/3 innings.

The White Sox ace recorded 17 swings-and-misses and eight called strikes, according to Statcast, with 14 called strikes or swings-and-misses coming off his four-seamer and seven off his cutter. He also mixed in six changeups, two sweepers and a sinker, as his career-high innings total moved to 124 2/3 innings in 25 starts, with his 176 strikeouts placing him second in the American League behind Tarik Skubal’s 180.

"I feel really good. Pitch count was 60 tonight,” Crochet said. “Felt I could have thrown more, but I completely understand the workload cautions that are going on, the five-day routine I’ve been preaching all year. Even before the year started. It’s been awesome. Just keep logging starts. At the end of the year, see where the inning count is."

"Hate to have to pull him like I did, we have to protect him,” White Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “He did a great job throwing strikes and being aggressive.”

Reliever Justin Anderson (1-0), who wore cleats designed by his 2 1/2 -year old daughter, Quinn, for Players Weekend, threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings to get the victory. Anderson needed one pitch to retire Chas McCormick on a groundout with runners on second and third and a 4-3 White Sox lead to end the sixth.

Matt Foster threw a perfect eighth in his first appearance since 2022, after being activated from his injury rehab assignment earlier in the day.

All in all, it was a good road start for the White Sox, ending the Astros’ eight-game winning streak.

"This was a pretty big game for us,” Crochet said. “With not really any playoff aspirations, one of our M.O.'s is 'Well, let’s screw it up for everybody else.' We knew the Astros were on a heater, so this one definitely feels good."