With Houston Astros' season on the line, nothing goes right for Hunter Brown in disastrous start

From his struggles to stop the bleeding to the shoddy defense behind him, Hunter Brown's hopes of extending the Astros' season promptly went awry in Game 2 against the White Sox. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle)

On the brink of elimination, with a taxed bullpen, the Houston Astros harbored one apparent advantage. For a do-or-die game Wednesday, they sent ace Hunter Brown to the mound on four days' rest.

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Hope turned quickly to calamity. The Chicago White Sox struck for four runs against Brown, who did not escape the first inning. And they rode that burst to a 7-3 win that clinched a wild-card series for Chicago and ended the Astros' season.

"I felt like everything that kind of could have went poorly did," Brown said, "and I didn't overcome the whole inning, really."

The spiral started before Brown even threw a pitch. Brown is a heavy ground-ball pitcher. To maximize their infield defense behind him, the Astros planned to start Yordan Alvarez in left field, Jose Altuve at DH and Nick Allen at third base in Game 2 of the wild-card series Wednesday.

Isaac Paredes' aching left knee, the result of a foul ball last weekend, altered that plan. Paredes instead started at DH, Altuve at second base and Allen at third. Either way, emphasis on infield defense pressed Alvarez, the primary designated hitter, into a start at left field.

Brown's first batter, Sam Antonacci, hit a fly ball to left that glanced off the glove of Alvarez for a leadoff double. Statcast gave it a .270 expected batting average. Kyle Teel followed with a ground-ball single up the middle, past Altuve, that gave Chicago a lead five pitches into the game.

Allen, a skilled defender, then did not corral Miguel Vargas' chopper on a short hop. It fueled the inning. With one out, Andrew Benintendi blooped a single to center field, where Houston started Lucas Spence.

Spence's throw home sailed over cutoff man Christian Walker, allowing Benintendi to take second base. And when it caromed off catcher Yainer Diaz's half-hearted block attempt, Vargas sprinted home with a third run. Tristan Peters then flared a single to score Benintendi.

"I feel like looking back … it's hard to say you don't take anything back, but I feel like the pitches that I threw I was confident in, I threw them to the best of my ability and just didn't come out on the right end of it," Brown said. "Unfortunately, that was the way it went and they were able to slap a crooked number up there on the board."

Houston Astros Jose Altuve, left, Carlos Correa, and Yordan Alvarez (44) watch as the Chicago White Sox celebrate their 7-3 win in Game 2 of an American League Wild Card Series, eliminating the Astros from the playoffs, in Houston, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle)

Brown watched Peters' single fall with hand on hip. He faced three more batters. After a two-out walk to Colson Montgomery loaded the bases, manager Joe Espada removed Brown at 36 pitches. It marked the second time in 114 major-league starts, playoffs included, that Brown did not complete an inning.

The all-around disaster for Houston created a deficit it could not overcome. Three solo home runs from Jeremy Peña, Cam Smith and Jose Altuve pulled the Astros to within 4-3 after the fourth inning.

WHITE SOX 7, ASTROS 3

ChicagoABRHBIBBSOAvg.Totals36786413Antonacci lf411001.286Doyle cf1010001.000Teel c512103.300Vargas 3b510002.000Murakami 1b500003.125Benintendi dh211110.3331-Acuña pr-dh110000.000Peters cf-lf311111.286Meidroth 2b312310.571B.Montgomery rf400001.250C.Montgomery ss300012.167HoustonABRHBIBBSOAvg.Totals32353115Peña ss412102.375Alvarez lf400002.125Paredes dh200011.167Altuve 2b412101.250Diaz c400002.000Walker 1b400003.000Spence cf400001.125C.Smith rf311102.286Allen 3b300001.000Chicago400003000_780Houston110100000_352

1-ran for Benintendi in the 6th.

E_Allen (1), Spence (1). LOB_Chicago 6, Houston 5. 2B_Antonacci (1). HR_Meidroth (1), off Abreu; Peña (1), off Burke; C.Smith (1), off Burke; Altuve (1), off Burke. RBIs_Teel (1), Benintendi (1), Peters (1), Meidroth 3 (4), Peña (1), C.Smith (1), Altuve (1). SB_Acuña 2 (2), Peters (1).

Runners left in scoring position_Chicago 3 (Antonacci 2, Murakami); Houston 2 (Altuve 2). RISP_Chicago 4 for 9; Houston 0 for 2.

ChicagoIPHRERBBSONPERABurke443308726.75Brazobán1-310001160.00Kay, W, 1-02-300010110.00Hicks200003210.00Fedde200003340.00HoustonIPHRERBBSONPERABrown, L, 0-12-3543123640.50Blubaugh11-300002150.00Lambert302222486.00Abreu22-311116442.45Hader11-320001220.00

Inherited runners-scored_Kay 2-0, Blubaugh 3-0, Abreu 2-2, Hader 1-0. HBP_Brazobán (C.Smith), Fedde (Paredes). WP_Brown.

ABS Challenge_Burke (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Burke (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Lambert (Ball-Confirmed); Vargas (Strike-Confirmed); Murakami (Strike-Confirmed); Spence (Strike-Overturned to Ball).

Umpires_Home, Alex Tosi; First, Ryan Additon; Second, Alan Porter; Third, Edwin Moscoso; Right, Alex MacKay; Left, Paul Clemons.

T_3:05. A_36,015 (41,000).

Peter Lambert, who stabilized the rotation this season while Brown was sidelined by a shoulder strain, finished his year in fitting fashion. Lambert, pitching on two days' rest, threw three scoreless innings in relief as the Astros clawed back into the game.

But Houston left the bases loaded in the fifth inning. And Chase Meidroth's three-run homer off Bryan Abreu in the sixth widened Chicago's lead again and withered any momentum the Astros had built.

Brown, a Cy Young finalist in 2025, finished this season with a 6-4 record and a 3.19 ERA in 20 regular-season starts. He battled his fastball command at times but still held opposing hitters to a .208 batting average with a 27.5% strikeout rate and projects to front the Astros rotation next year. In the wake of their playoff exit Wednesday, he was asked what Houston must address to return to previous heights.

"I think it starts with just winning more baseball games," Brown said. "And I think that's in the clubhouse, that's things we can control. I know on a daily basis everybody shows up here and gives it their all, when we're working on things and during the game. So, I don't know … The season just ended, I'm not even thinking about next year."

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This article originally published at With Houston Astros' season on the line, nothing goes right for Hunter Brown in disastrous start.

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