Chicago White Sox lose to Jake Meyers and Houston Astros 8-3

Davis Martin went all out during a fourth-inning showdown with Jake Meyers.

The Chicago White Sox starter began with two fastballs to get ahead 0-2. Meyers then fouled off a slider and fastball.

Martin threw a changeup in the dirt for a ball. Another fastball followed, which the Houston Astros center fielder fouled off again. Martin went with a slider and cutter, both for balls to make it a full count.

Meyers fouled off the ninth pitch of the at-bat, a changeup. Meyers connected on the 10th pitch, a fastball, for a two-run triple.

“I gave him pretty much everything I had, executed a lot of pitches in really good spots, set up things exactly how I wanted to set up, and I lost,” Martin said. “It’s just part of the game.”

Meyers had a monster day at the plate, hitting two home runs and driving in a career-high seven as the Astros defeated the Sox 8-3 in front of 20,974 on Saturday at Rate Field.

“You’ve got to tip the cap to him, he had a career day,” Martin said.

Meyers went 4-for-4, falling a single shy of the cycle, and matched a franchise record with 13 total bases. He described the day to reporters covering the Astros as “incredible.”

“A lot of hard work paying off, grateful that it showed up today kind of all together,” Meyers said. “It was a lot of fun.”

The Sox (9-24) saw their two-game winning streak come to an end thanks to Meyers. He hit a solo home run against Martin in the third, the two-run triple in the fourth, a go-ahead three-run blast against Penn Murfee in the sixth and an RBI double in the eighth.

Photos: Chicago White Sox lose to Houston Astros 8-3 at Rate Field

He single-handedly dug the Astros out of an early hole.

The Sox scored three in the first against Astros starter Hunter Brown. Chase Meidroth, Miguel Vargas and Andrew Benintendi began the inning with three consecutive singles. Meidroth scored on Benintendi’s hit.

Andrew Vaughn had a two-out, two-run single later in the inning. The Sox didn’t get another hit until the ninth, when Vaughn singled with one out against reliever Logan VanWey.

“I think (Brown’s) stuff was really good in the first inning, we just got some pitches to hit,” Benintendi said. “Then obviously he settled down and kind of went to his offspeed a little more and was able to still use the heater late.”

Brown allowed the three runs on four hits with nine strikeouts and three walks in six innings.

The Sox had the 3-0 lead until Meyers hit the solo shot in the third. The two-run triple tied it in the fourth. Reliever Fraser Ellard walked two in the sixth before being replaced by Murfee. Meyers greeted him with the three-run home run. The RBI double against Jared Shuster came during a two-run eighth.

“We tried everything we had there,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “Gave him different looks and he was able to put really good swings on mistakes over the plate, so credit to him. And unfortunately, we just weren’t able to get him out.”

Colson Montgomery update

Sox director of player development Paul Janish provided a deep dive into the organization’s recent decision to send prospect Colson Montgomery to their Arizona complex for one-on-one sessions to work on his swing.

“I’m glad that we were comfortable enough to pull the trigger on this earlier rather than later, just because it’s something that I think can be a little bit of an aha moment to get out of the affiliate day-to-day and just breathe and get back into it,” Janish said during a videoconference call before Saturday’s game. “I wouldn’t call it extreme. I know other organizations have used it and done it, as well, with certain players.

“Obviously, it’s the type of thing we do with a guy we think a lot of, care (about), expect a lot of. It’s not the type of thing you necessarily do with everybody. Not extreme, just another tool in the sense of, ‘Look, this is what we feel is best in terms of righting the ship.’ That’s what we’re going to try to do.”