HOUSTON _ The White Sox continued on their way in the race to the bottom Saturday with a 12-6 loss to the Astros, leaving them 29 games under .500 and 2-7 on their road trip.
James Shields allowed 10 hits and eight earned runs, both season worsts for him, and the offense was silent until the Sox fell into a five-run hole in the sixth inning.
The Astros are 6-0 against the Sox heading into Sunday's finale of the season series, when Lucas Giolito, who has the highest earned-run average (6.93) among qualified starters in baseball, is scheduled to face Astros lefty Dallas Keuchel.
The Sox made a game of it after looking lethargic early against left-hander Charlie Morton. But Shields pitched to one batter too many, and the Astros took advantage of a depleted bullpen to add to their lead.
The Astros went ahead in the second on doubles by Evan Gattis and Max Stassi and added three more runs in the third on Yuli Gurriel's home run with two on.
The Sox continued their early-innings snooze against the Astros, going hitless in the first three innings with six strikeouts. In the first time through the order during the first three games of the series, the Sox are 1-for-27 with 19 strikeouts and no walks against Justin Verlander, Lance McCullers and Morton.
Avisail Garcia's sacrifice fly got the Sox on the board in the fourth, but the Astros responded with two in the fifth to make it 6-1. Just when it looked like the Sox were down for the count, they finally solved Morton in the sixth. Matt Davidson's opposite-field RBI single and Omar Narvaez's three-run double pulled them within a run at 6-5.
Shields came out for the sixth, but clearly had run out of gas.
On his 99th pitch, Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer to increase the lead to three runs, and the Astros added on against the Sox bullpen, just as they did in Friday's 11-4 rout.
Garcia hit a solo homer in the eighth, his eighth blast in his last 12 games.
