HOUSTON -- This wasn't a great combination from the outset. The White Sox were one starting pitcher short, and they were about to face the best offense in baseball -- at a ballpark where the home team rarely loses.

With that in mind, the Sox 3-0 loss to the Astros Monday at Minute Maid Park could be viewed as a victory.

• Box score

"I know no one likes moral victories, but we do, in terms of being able to manage these guys and not let them get too far extended -- that was really key," manager Rick Renteria said. "That was more to how they were attacking and being effective and efficient. I think they did a nice job of allowing us an opportunity to, for the most part, have them all available still, as they move forward."

A "bullpen game" is not common during the regular season, nor is it something teams typically implement this early in the season. Monday's plan was formed around necessity, to fill a temporary vacancy created by Manny Banuelos landing on the 10-day injured list with a strained left shoulder.

The Sox task: tame the Astros, who, even without injured All-Stars Jose Altuve and George Springer, employ one of the most menacing lineups in baseball. They were 16-4 at home entering Monday's opener. They had homered in 16 consecutive games. They have strung together two 10-game winning streaks this year.

There is never an ideal time for a team to have to rely on its bullpen to absorb all nine innings, but given the circumstances, and who they were playing, the Sox could probably mark this loss as a win.

Two of the five pitchers threw fewer than 20 pitches, and none of the innings got out of hand.

With three more games remaining in this series with the first-place Astros, and no more days off for the Sox between now and June 2, they needed to get through this game cleanly, maybe even more than they needed to win it.

"As each one of them was going through their portion of work, at the end of the day, I wanted them to be able to minimize damage. And that's what they did," Renteria said. "Three runs -- a starter gives you six innings, three runs, it's a quality start. Today, our bullpen gave us nine innings of three-run ball. A quality start for the bullpen."

Burr pitches two
That was the plan ahead of time -- "starter" Ryan Burr would start and stay in for one or two innings, depending on pitch usage and effectiveness. Burr threw all fastballs during his 28-pitch outing -- 21 four-seamers, and seven cutters -- and was mostly successful in taming the Astros' offense.

In the first, Burr walked Alex Bregman, yielded a hit to Michael Brantley and allowed a run on a Carlos Correa sacrifice fly. But Burr needed only nine pitches to get through a scoreless second.

This was Burr's first start as a professional pitcher. All 124 appearances in the Minors were as a reliever.

"The juices were flowing for sure, the first couple guys in the first inning," he said. "Once I was able to harness that, I felt good again. It was a learning experience, for sure. You don't get opportunities to face lineups like this every night."

Three pitches, three hits
Next up was lefty Jace Fry, whom the Astros pounced on right away. They logged hits on each of Fry's first three pitches -- No. 9 hitter Jake Marisnick connected with a hanging curveball and sent it to left field, giving Houston a 2-0 lead, and Josh Reddick and Alex Bregman also recorded base hits on first-pitch offerings.

"Marisnick was definitely looking for a first-pitch curveball and he got it," Fry said. "Other than that, [the] two balls hit -- base hits happen in baseball. You just have to forget about it and make the next pitch."

The Marisnick homer was the only run Fry allowed. The pitcher was given a lift by his defense, in the form of a slick 3-6-3 double play on a Brantley ground ball. Fry was lifted for righty Jose Ruiz, who walked Correa, but Yuli Gurriel popped out in foul territory to end the threat.

Tyler White scored the final run with a fourth-inning solo homer off Ruiz. Only three Astros reached base over the final 4 1/3 innings.

"Everybody looked good, filled up the zone, got soft contact and executed against a really good lineup that they have," Fry said. "I feel like the only adjustment you need to make in a situation like this is to not try to be a starter, just go out there and throw your best stuff for the inning or two that you have."