Quero hits 1st homer to back Houser's gem as White Sox edge Rockies in matchup of MLB's worst

DENVER (AP) — Adrian Houser allowed two hits in eight innings and rookie catcher Edgar Quero hit his first major league home run — a tiebreaking solo shot in the sixth that sent the Chicago White Sox past the Colorado Rockies 3-2 on Friday night.

Rookie reliever Grant Taylor gave up a two-out single to Mickey Moniak in the ninth before striking out Ryan McMahon for his third save.

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Colorado Rockies' Tyler Freeman doubles to drive in a run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Adrian Houser in the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 4, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Rockies’ Tyler Freeman doubles to drive in a run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Adrian Houser in the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 4, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Adrian Houser works against the Colorado Rockies in the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 4, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Chicago White Sox's Edgar Quero gestures to the bullpen as he circles the bases after hitting a solo home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela in the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 4, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Chicago White Sox’s Edgar Quero gestures to the bullpen as he circles the bases after hitting a solo home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela in the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 4, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Adrian Houser works against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, July 4, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Chicago White Sox's Edgar Quero gestures as he crosses home plate after hitting a solo home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela in the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 4, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Chicago White Sox’s Edgar Quero gestures as he crosses home plate after hitting a solo home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela in the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 4, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

In a matchup between the two worst teams in the majors, Houser (4-2) permitted two unearned runs on four hits and two walks. He hasn’t yielded more than three runs in any of his eight starts this season. The veteran right-hander was coming off seven sharp innings in a 1-0 win over the Giants that Taylor also saved.

Andrew Benintendi and Miguel Vargas opened the fourth with singles against Antonio Senzatela (3-12), and Quero walked to load the bases. Michael A. Taylor’s two-out single gave Chicago a 2-0 lead.

Michael Toglia doubled in the fifth and scored on a throwing error by third baseman Josh Rojas. Tyler Freeman doubled to tie it at 2.

Quero gave Chicago the lead with a 401-foot drive to right field — before getting the silent treatment from his teammates when he returned to the dugout.

Senzatela leads the majors in losses after allowing three runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery had a memorable big league debut after being called up from Triple-A Charlotte. He became the second player since 1920 to reach on catcher’s interference in his first plate appearance, then made a diving, over-the-shoulder catch to end the second inning. He finished 0 for 2 with a walk.

Chicago (29-59) kept the Rockies (20-68) from winning back-to-back home games for the first time this season.

White Sox RHP Jonathan Cannon (2-7, 4.59 ERA) starts Saturday opposite Rockies RHP Germán Márquez (3-9, 5.62).

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KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Months worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours on Texas Hill Country, leaving 24 people dead and many more unaccounted for Friday, including more than 20 girls attending a summer camp, as search teams conducted boat and helicopter rescues in fast-moving floodwaters.

Desperate pleas peppered social media as loved ones sought any information about people caught in the flood zone. At least 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain poured down overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.

At a news conference late Friday Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 24 people had been killed. Authorities said 237 people had been recued so far, including 167 by helicopter.

The missing children were attending Camp Mystic, a Christian camp along the Guadalupe River in the small town of Hunt. Elinor Lester, 13, said she and her cabin mates had to be helicoptered to safety.

A raging storm woke up her cabin around 1:30 a.m., and when rescuers arrived, Lester said they tied a rope for the girls to hold as the children in her cabin walked across bridge with floodwaters whipping around the calves and knees.

“The camp was completely destroyed,” she said. “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”

The situation was still developing and officials said the death toll could change, with rescue operations ongoing for an unspecified total number of missing.

Authorities were still working to identify the dead.

A river gauge at Hunt recorded a 22 foot rise (6.7 meters) in about two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office. The gauge failed after recording a level of 29 and a half feet (9 meters).

“The water’s moving so fast, you’re not going to recognize how bad it is until it’s on top of you,” Fogarty said.

On the Kerr County sheriff’s office Facebook page, people posted pictures of loved ones and begged for help finding them.

At least 400 people were on the ground helping in the response, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. Nine rescue teams, 14 helicopters and 12 drones were being used, with some people being rescued from trees.

About 23 of the roughly 750 girls attending Camp Mystic were among those who were unaccounted for, Patrick said.

Search crews were doing “whatever we can do to find everyone we can,” he said.

In Ingram, Erin Burgess woke to thunder and rain at 3:30 a.m. Just 20 minutes later, water was pouring into her home directly across from the river, she said. She described an agonizing hour clinging to a tree and waiting for the water to recede enough so they could walk up the hill to a neighbor’s home.

“My son and I floated to a tree where we hung onto it, and my boyfriend and my dog floated away. He was lost for a while, but we found them,” she said.

Of her 19-year-old son, Burgess said: “Thankfully he’s over 6 feet tall. That’s the only thing that saved me, was hanging on to him.”

Matthew Stone, 44, of Kerrville, said police came knocking on doors at 5:30 a.m. but that he had received no warning on his phone.

“We got no emergency alert. There was nothing,” Stone said. Then: “a pitch black wall of death.”

Stone said police used his paddle boat to help rescue a neighbor. He and the rescuers thought they heard someone yelling “help!” from the water but couldn’t see anyone, he said.

At a reunification center set up in Ingram, families cried and cheered as loved ones got off vehicles loaded with evacuees. Two soldiers carried an older woman who could not get down a ladder. Behind her, a woman in a soiled T-shirt and shorts clutched a small white dog.

Later, a girl in a white “Camp Mystic” T-shirt and white socks stood in a puddle, sobbing in her mother’s arms.

Barry Adelman, 54, said water pushed everyone in his three-story house into the attic, including his 94-year-old grandmother and 9-year-old grandson. The water started coming trough the attic floor before finally receding.

“I was horrified,” he said. “I was having to look at my grandson in the face and tell him everything was going to be OK, but inside I was scared to death.”

The forecast had called for rain, with a flood watch upgraded to a warning overnight for at least 30,000 people. But totals in some places exceeded expectations, Fogarty said.

Patrick noted that the potential for heavy rain and flooding covered a large area.

“Everything was done to give them a heads up that you could have heavy rain, and we’re not exactly sure where it’s going to land,” Patrick said. “Obviously as it got dark last night, we got into the wee morning of the hours, that’s when the storm started to zero in.”

Asked about how people were notified in Kerr County so that they could get to safety, Judge Rob Kelly, the county’s chief elected official, said: “We do not have a warning system.”

When reporters pushed on why more precautions weren’t taken, Kelly responded: “Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming.”

“We have floods all the time,” he added. “This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States.”

The area is known as “flash flood alley” because of the hills’ thin layer of soil, said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was collecting donations to help nonprofits responding to the disaster.

“When it rains, water doesn’t soak into the soil,” Dickson said. “It rushes down the hill.”

River tourism industry is a key part of the Hill Country economy, said Dickson. Well-known, century-old summer camps bring in kids from all over the country, he said. Between Hunt and Ingram are many river homes and cabins for rent.

“It’s generally a very tranquil river with really beautiful clear blue water that people have been attracted to for generations,” Dickson said.

This story has been updated to correct that Patrick is the lieutenant governor.

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Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press reporters Adrian Sanz in Memphis, Tennessee, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City, John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois, and Susan Haigh in Norwich, Connecticut, also contributed.

Quero hits 1st homer to back Houser’s gem as White Sox edge Rockies in matchup of MLB’s worst

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