HOUSTON — Starter Sean Burke had command issues right off the bat in the White Sox’ 10-2 loss to the Astros on Wednesday.
He resembled the pitcher who struggled in April (7.71 ERA), leaving too many hittable pitches near the middle of the zone.
In the first inning, Burke allowed a one-out double to Isaac Paredes on a 2-0 fastball in the heart of the zone. He allowed an RBI double to the next batter, Jose Altuve, on a sharp line drive to left field on an 0-1 fastball. Burke then struck out Yainer Diaz but allowed a two-run home run to Christian Walker on a 1-0 slider that increased the Astros’ lead to 3-0. Victor Caratini grounded out to end the inning.
All those hits came off pitches near the middle of the zone.
Burke pitched a 1-2-3 second inning, but that success was fleeting. Because of his inability to put guys away, Burke left himself susceptible to damage.
After Burke got two outs in the third, he allowed a single by Altuve to left field on a 1-2 slider. Burke then walked Diaz on four pitches outside the zone, again setting the stage for Walker, who got on top of a 1-1 fastball for a two-run double that extended the Astros’ lead to 5-0, putting the Sox in a deep hole. They entered Wednesday 26th in the majors in runs per game (3.54).
“Just one of those nights where you get hit around a little bit,” Burke said. “They hit some pitches that I made mistakes on, and they hit some pitches that I thought I made some decent pitches on.”
Burke (3-7) allowed two more runs in the fourth inning before being relieved by Owen White, who allowed three runs and seven hits in four innings to keep the Sox’ bullpen fresh. Burke went 3⅔ innings and allowed seven runs and eight hits. His ERA rose to 4.71.
He said he has felt good throwing the curveball of late — he threw it 28 times against the Astros, the most this season — and it has helped get hitters off the fastball and slider, but he knows his bread-and-butter is the fastball in the zone.
“[Burke] didn’t really establish the fastball,” manager Will Venable said. “They were sitting on spin and hit spin. We were just a little late to adjust.”
Venable said it wasn’t in the game plan for Burke to use his breaking balls so often.
“It wasn’t strategic,” Venable said. “We didn’t adjust, and we weren’t able to use the fastball the right way early.”
Given their rebuilding situation, the Sox can provide their young players with ample opportunities to work through their struggles.
For Burke, the Sox’ Opening Day starter, that leeway has been critical as he navigates his way through his first major-league season. He had been much better of late with a 2.70 ERA in his last seven games before this blow-up.
Burke said he could’ve done a better job sequencing and locating his pitches, but his stuff felt good. His struggles were attributable to execution.
“There were some points in the game where I got a little bit too soft, just following a pattern of a lot of sliders and curveballs,” Burke said. “It’s a good fastball-hitting team, so I didn’t want to just hand-feed them a ton of fastballs.’’