HOUSTON -- The urgency to win in the final days of the regular season forced the Astros to dig deep into their pitching depth, leaving no stone unturned en route to clinching the American League West division title. The strategy worked, with Houston returning to the postseason for the ninth time in 10 seasons despite an 81-81 record.
The pitching-depleted Astros were also left with no choice but to employ a bullpen game for Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series on Tuesday afternoon instead of starting ace Hunter Brown on short rest. It didn’t go well.
The White Sox took advantage of the wildness of AJ Blubaugh, making his first playoff start, and ineffectiveness of lefty Bryan King, who combined to record three outs to begin the game while giving up three runs in the Astros’ 6-3 loss at Daikin Park.
The loss was Houston’s eighth in a row in the playoffs at home, dating to Game 1 of the 2023 AL Division Series.
Brown will get his turn in Wednesday’s Game 2 on four days of rest and will try to keep the Astros’ season alive by forcing a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday. Brown is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two starts (13 innings) against Chicago this year, striking out 14 batters and walking two.
“I know that they're a really good lineup,” Brown said. “They got a lot of power throughout the order. They can make you work. I've faced them twice this season, so at least I'm familiar with the lineup a little bit. And what's exciting about it is [that] it's postseason baseball. That's all there is to it. It doesn't matter if it's the White Sox or anybody, really.”
In the history of the best-of-three Wild Card Series, teams taking a 1-0 lead have gone on to win the series 21 of 24 times (88%), including 17 two-game sweeps. Visiting teams have won 12 of 15 series (80%) in which they have gone ahead 1-0, including nine sweeps. However, the most recent rally by a home team that lost Game 1 happened just last year, when the Yankees came back against the Red Sox.
Blubaugh, who led all Major League relievers in innings pitched this year with 96, walked three of the five batters he faced, giving up a run on a sac fly. He threw 14 balls and 13 strikes. King got a strikeout to strand a pair in the first, but all five batters he faced in the second reached base on a hit batter and four singles, including a two-run single by Sam Antonacci that made it 3-0.
The Astros were fortunate to be down by only three runs at that point, but Colson Montgomery hit a solo homer in the fourth off Miguel Ullola, and Chase Meidroth rolled an infield single under the glove of third baseman Isaac Paredes in the fifth that made it 5-0.
The White Sox, who were also using a bullpen game, kept Houston scoreless until pinch-hitter Nelson Velázquez slammed a two-run home run to left field in the fifth inning.