After dropping Game 1 of their wild-card series to the Chicago White Sox while throwing a bullpen day, the Houston Astros had to feel a sense of relief knowing they were turning to their ace, Hunter Brown, for Game 2.
But as the second inning came around on Wednesday, Brown had already been chased from the contest.
Chicago sent 10 batters to the plate in a four-run first, tagging Brown for five hits as it looked to win its first playoff series since 2005.
Brown managed to get two outs — both by way of the strikeout — before manager Joe Espada made the move to the bullpen.
White Sox leadoff hitter Sam Antonacci wasted little time putting Brown on his back foot, opening the game with a double that went off Astros left fielder Yordan Alvarez's glove. Kyle Teel then brought home Antonacci with a single, Miguel Vargas reached on an error, Andrew Benintendi scored both with a single and Tristan Peters completed the rally with an RBI single of his own.
Brown left with the bases loaded and two out, but Tuesday's opener, AJ Blubaugh, entered and escaped the jam.
Houston's pitching staff has been ravaged by injuries this season, leaving the 28-year-old Brown and Hayden Wesneski as their lone healthy starters for the playoffs.
With the Astros not clinching their AL West title until the final day of the regular season, they weren't able to line up their pitching staff, which led to the bullpen day in Game 1 before Brown and Wesneski could return on normal rest.
"Having those guys healthy with regular rest, it's super valuable for us," Espdada said before the series began, making Brown's short start all the more costly for an Astros team already needing length from their pitchers.
Brown finished the 2026 regular season with a 3.19 ERA and 124 strikeouts over 107.1 innings. He was also hit by the injury bug earlier in the season, which limited the six-foot-two right-hander to just 20 starts.
