TLDR: One more win and the White Sox knock Houston out in its own building. The Astros get the pitcher who has owned Chicago for his whole career to make sure that doesn't happen.
Chicago leads the best-of-3 Wild Card Series 1-0 after a 6-3 Game 1 win in Houston, and a win in Game 2 puts the White Sox in the ALDS. The Astros turn to Hunter Brown, who has never lost to Chicago, against Sean Burke, who is hot and has also handled Houston this year. With the Astros missing 3 center fielders and 2 pitchers from the roster, this looks like a low-scoring elimination game that the starters and bullpens will decide.
Hunter Brown (6-4, 3.19) goes against Sean Burke (11-7, 3.34) at 4:00 PM CT at Daikin Park, and on paper this is the best pitching matchup of the series. Brown is 6-0 with a 2.39 ERA in 6 career starts against the White Sox. This year he's 2-0 against them with a 1.38 ERA, 14 strikeouts and 2 walks over 13 innings. He also finished the season strong after missing more than 2 months with a shoulder injury: 3-1 with a 2.33 ERA over his last 7 starts, and he allowed 2 earned runs or fewer in 6 of them. The one blemish is his last start, where he walked 4 in 5.1 innings and took the loss to the Athletics. Burke is making his postseason debut, and he's pitching like someone who isn't nervous about it. He won his last 3 regular-season starts, allowing 3 runs over 16.1 innings with 16 strikeouts.
Sean Burke
(11-7)·3.34 ERA
Sep 25 vs Rockies
W
5.1IP
1ER
7K
1BB
89P
09/30 Lineup
Hunter Brown
(6-4)·3.19 ERA
Sep 25 @ Athletics
L
5.1IP
1ER
4K
4BB
100P
09/30 Lineup
The Astros have more lineup problems than pitching problems. Daulton Varsho (wrist), Jake Meyers (knee) and Brice Matthews (leg) are all on the IL, which means Houston lost 3 center fielders inside a week, and Carlos Correa is still out with inflammation in his surgically repaired ankle. Reliever Steven Okert (hamstring) and starter Ethan Pecko (hip) were both left off the Wild Card roster. Mike Burrows was cleared as healthy and could be on it, which would give Joe Espada a length option if Brown doesn't go deep. Chicago's injury list is long, but most of it is season-long 60-day stuff, and the club has been winning without those players all month. Houston is still priced as a clear home favorite, and that is basically a bet on Brown.
The series is simple. Chicago took Game 1, 6-3, scoring in 4 of the first 5 innings and leading 5-0 by the middle of the fifth. Hagen Smith and the bullpen then kept Houston from getting back in it. That was Chicago's first playoff win since 2021. Win today and the White Sox are in the ALDS. Lose and it's a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday. Will Venable put it plainly: "We came here to win the series." Houston also has to snap a home playoff losing streak to stay alive.
Houston's season has already been one long comeback. The Astros were 11 games under .500 on May 20 and clawed back to 81-81, so a group used to having its back against the wall isn't new to this. Espada's message after Game 1 was "we've got to get back on track." Chicago comes in at 84-78, having won 4 of its last 5, and it has been beating opponents by margins, not squeaking by. Burke's quote before the start sums up the Sox right now: "This is my life. I don't have family, no girl, no kids. This is all I do."
Burke has pitched Houston well this year: a 1.54 ERA over 11.2 innings, even though he lost 4-1 back in July. Put that next to Brown's numbers against Chicago and this looks like a game where one swing decides it. The Astros need Brown to go 6 innings so they don't have to test a bullpen that's missing Okert. The White Sox need Burke to keep doing what he did against Colorado and let a pen that already won Game 1 finish it.
AL Wild Card Game 2: Chicago White Sox at Houston Astros — Astros Hand Hunter Brown the Ball With the Season on the Line | Polymarket Odds · Barstool Bush
