Slide continues for Chicago White Sox — 14 games under .500 — in a 5-1 loss to the Houston Astros

All eyes leading into Friday were on José Abreu, the former Chicago White Sox first baseman making his return to Guaranteed Rate Field for the first time with the Houston Astros.

Sox starter Michael Kopech took center stage after a 2 hour, 10 minute rain delay, carrying an unconventional no-hitter into the fifth.

Through four, the right-hander walked four, hit one batter and allowed a run on a sacrifice fly and didn’t surrender a hit.

Kopech walked two more in the fifth and gave up his first hit, a two-out run-scoring double by Kyle Tucker just out of the reach of sliding left fielder Andrew Benintendi.

The Astros led the rest of the way, topping the Sox 5-1.

“I felt like I had good stuff, but it goes without saying that we’ve all been around this game long enough to know the importance of throwing strikes,” Kopech said. “To say the least, I didn’t do that well (Friday). I got taken advantage of and lost a lot of momentum for the boys. It’s an unfortunate one.

“I haven’t had the start to the season I want. I know we haven’t as a team either. I think what showed (Friday) is I was pressing. If we want to turn things around then we can’t press. I can only speak for myself but that’s what happened (Friday).”

Sox manager Pedro Grifol said it didn’t surprise him to hear Kopech say he was pressing.

“He wants to win,” Grifol said. “He’s a competitor. And we, as a team, need to play some baseball and go relax and have fun. It looks like there’s more than one that’s pressing. We need to go play and have some fun.”

The crowd of 18,673 saw the Sox fall to 14 games under .500 at 13-27. They also waited patiently through the rain to see Abreu back in town.

He received a nice ovation during pregame introductions. Minutes before first pitch, the Sox honored him with a video tribute, highlighting some of his accomplishments during his seasons in Chicago. Abreu raced out of the dugout and raised his first to the sky to acknowledge the crowd.

There was a fun moment in the first when after robbing Tim Anderson of a hit, the shortstop playfully punched his former teammate in the back.

Abreu received another extended ovation as he stepped into the batter’s box as a visitor for the first time in the second inning. He tipped his helmet to the crowd and received a pat in the back from catcher Seby Zavala as some fans sang “José.”

Abreu lined out to second baseman Elvis Andrus in that at-bat. He went 1-for-5 with a single to center in the seventh.

The Sox took a 1-0 lead on Luis Robert Jr.’s team-leading ninth homer of the season in second. The Sox had only two more hits in the game, singles in the fifth by Robert and Zavala.

“We had good at-bats but couldn’t string anything together,” Grifol said.

The Astros produced their first run without a hit. Tucker walked leading off the fourth, stole second, moved to third on an Abreu groundout to second and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Jeremy Peña to tie the game.

Another leadoff walk proved costly the next inning. Kopech walked Martín Maldonado, who moved to second on a one-out walk to Alex Bregman. With two outs, Tucker sliced a long fly to left. Benintendi just missed making the catch while sliding near the corner and Maldonado scored to give the Astros the 2-1 lead.

That would be the last batter for Kopech, who allowed the two runs on one hit with five strikeouts and a career-high six walks.

“It’s just focus,” Kopech said of the walks. “Staying within yourself. I felt like I was inconsistent with that. There were times where I showed great focus and times when I let it go. You can look at it in hindsight and say I should have been there for every pitch.

“Sometimes emotions get the best of us and you don’t want to let that dictate how you are performing. I’ve done that a little too much this year. (Friday) was another example.”

And a day after catcher Yasmani Grandal exited early with right hamstring tightness, the Sox saw Andrus leave after he was holding his side following an eighth-inning groundout. Grifol said Andrus was getting checked out in the “oblique area.”

The Sox have lost four of five after consecutive series wins.

“I think we all need to get a little bit of confidence back,” Kopech said. “We don’t stay within ourselves, it kind of makes the momentum sway and you want to be able to ride the momentum. But right now, everybody wants to win. That goes without saying. We are not doing it.”