CHICAGO -- The first inning of the second half of the 2021 season could not have gone any better for the White Sox on Friday night against Houston at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Dylan Cease struck out two of the first three hitters in the top half of the first, followed by a Tim Anderson triple to extend his hitting streak to 13 games and a Yoán Moncada double on the first two pitches thrown by Lance McCullers Jr. One run was in and the crowd of 34,516, which represented the biggest home crowd of the season, was already fired up.

Then, any sort of fun ended for the American League Central leaders, who had their five-game winning streak snapped in a 7-1 setback. Houston (56-36) grabbed the lead via a two-run third, which followed five straight strikeouts from Cease over the first and second innings. The Astros' rally began with a two-out walk issued to No. 9 hitter Martín Maldonado.

Jose Altuve followed with an infield single on a slow roller to Anderson, a play in which second baseman Leury García was a step slow in covering second base with the slow-footed Maldonado running. Michael Brantley getting hit by a pitch loaded the bases and set the stage for Yuli Gurriel’s two-run double.

“It’s a tough walk in front of the top of the lineup, and from my perspective, I didn’t see a play that could have been made,” said White Sox manager Tony La Russa of the third-inning rally. “Just well placed.”

“I don't want to say I handed them two runs, but I feel like I pretty much gave them the first two runs,” Cease said. “Brantley got me for that home run [in the fifth], so that was good on him. I kept us in it, but didn't get the win."

Cease (7-5) allowed three runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings while striking out 10. But the bullpen could not pick up its starter, allowing four runs in the seventh.

Aaron Bummer, who was reinstated from the 10-day injured list prior to Friday’s contest after dealing with a strained right hamstring, was charged with all four runs in two-thirds of an inning with one walk and two hits allowed. Bummer hit 96.3 mph, per Statcast, but his wildness produced 29 pitches without finishing the inning.

Meanwhile, the White Sox were unable to get another hit off McCullers after the second pitch of the game. The right-hander fanned 10 in seven innings, retiring the last 13 hitters faced, including striking out the side in the seventh against Brian Goodwin, Andrew Vaughn and García.

“He had a good assortment. Made good pitches. You got to give him credit,” La Russa said. “He really shut our offense down. Pitched well.”

Friday’s setback dropped the White Sox to 0-5 against the Astros this season, with Houston holding a decisive 34-9 scoring edge. La Russa has been extremely consistent all season in looking no further than the next game on the schedule, and even with struggles vs. Houston and with the club falling to 16-25 vs. teams at or above .500, he remained strident in his beliefs postgame.

“I thought the score was not quite as competitive as we [were],” La Russa said. “Cease really represented well. He had two or three balls that didn’t leave the infield that hurt us. We scored one run; that’s not enough to win. I think they outpitched us. I think we pitched better than seven runs. Come out tomorrow and compete again. I don’t look beyond that.”

“We definitely need to treat these like playoff games and prepare like that,” said Cease, who had his fifth career double-digit strikeout game and fourth this season. “It's behind us now. We've got a talented roster, we've got great pitching, so there's no reason to lose any self belief."