Bullet-point recap:
*Some lopsided pitching matchups surprise, but Justin Verlander-Dylan Covey wasn't one of them. Verlander carried a no-hitter into the seventh before Jose Abreu spoiled everything with a solo shot, and that was the only hit registered by the Sox all evening.
*Abreu has six homers against Verlander, which broke the tie with Corey Kluber for the most against any pitcher.
*Verlander settled for improving his record to 8-1 and his ERA to 2.24 with eight innings of one-run, one-hit ball. He walked only one while striking out 12.
*Covey hit his customary wall in the middle innings. He gave up a solo shot to Yuli Gurriel in the fourth inning for the game's first run, but couldn't get out of the fifth. He issued the first two of four consecutive walks by White Sox pitching in the fifth before Rick Renteria ended his night in relatively proactive fashion.
*Aaron Bummer issued the second two -- with a wild pitch in between scoring a run -- before a two-run double by Michael Brantley and an RBI single by Carlos Correa stretched Houston's lead to 5-0.
*Bummer's first off night of the year bloated Covey's line: 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 55 of 86 pitches for strikes. The strikeout came on his first batter of the game.
*The White Sox defense did what it could, turning three double plays. Leury García also laid out for a fantastic catch in left center in the first inning, and Eloy Jiménez made a less artful but equally effective sliding catch in left.
*Welington Castillo did commit an error on catcher's interference.
*Yoan Moncada and Jiménez combined to go 0-for-7 with seven strikeouts, which was half of the White Sox' total overall.
*Jose Ruiz pitched a scoreless inning before getting optioned to Charlotte for presumably a fresh arm.
Record: 21-26 | Box score | Highlights
