HOUSTON (Interstat) — Cam Smith doubled in two runs during a three-run fifth inning, and the Houston Astros defeated the Chicago White Sox 6-3 on Monday night at Daikin Park.

The Astros broke open a 3-2 game with the decisive fifth, then leaned on a succession of relievers to close out the victory. Houston improved to 70-68, while the White Sox fell to 72-65.

Houston opened the scoring in the third inning without the benefit of a hit. Nick Allen reached on a throwing error by third baseman Miguel Vargas, moved to second on Christian Vázquez’s walk, advanced to third on Jeremy Peña’s force out and scored when Yordan Alvarez grounded into a force play at second.

The White Sox answered in the fourth. Colson Montgomery led off with a double and scored when Chase Meidroth singled to left. After Tristan Peters was hit by a pitch, Sam Antonacci walked to load the bases. Munetaka Murakami then walked to force in Meidroth, giving Chicago a 2-1 lead.

Houston responded immediately in the bottom half. Smith tripled to right field, and Nelson Velázquez followed with a two-run home run to left, giving the Astros a 3-2 advantage.

The Astros extended the lead in the fifth. Vázquez singled, and after Peña struck out, Alvarez singled and Isaac Paredes singled to load the bases. Christian Walker walked to force in Vázquez, and after Daulton Varsho struck out, Smith doubled to left, scoring Alvarez and Paredes to make it 6-2.

Montgomery pulled the White Sox closer in the seventh, homering to right field for his 29th home run of the season, but Houston’s bullpen stranded the potential rally. Montgomery finished 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

Peter Lambert started for Houston and delivered a strong outing, allowing two runs on three hits over 4 2/3 innings while striking out six. He left with the Astros holding the lead but did not factor into the decision. Enyel De Los Santos (3-3) picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief, and Bryan Abreu pitched the ninth for his eighth save.

Anthony Kay (9-8) took the loss for Chicago. Trevor Richards provided effective relief for the White Sox, pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing two hits and striking out two. Tyler Davis struck out one in a scoreless inning.

For Houston, Bennett Sousa allowed one run on one hit over 1 1/3 innings with a strikeout, and Steven Okert struck out two in a scoreless inning. Smith led the Astros at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Velázquez finished 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs.

The White Sox managed five hits, while Houston collected eight. The loss snapped Chicago’s momentum after the White Sox had taken two of three from Minnesota over the weekend. The Astros had won their series opener against the Mets on Sunday and carried that into Monday.

The game drew an announced attendance of 21,236 and lasted 3 hours, 2 minutes.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chicago White Sox 7, Houston Astros 5. Interstat’s ELO system had given Houston a 54.40 percent probability to win. Houston was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 9 went under the over/under line of 8.5.