For most of the season, the Houston Astros have relied on a solid bullpen in hopes of hanging around in a winnable American League West.
Ahead of the second contest of a three-game set against the host Chicago White Sox on Saturday night, the Astros hope to ease the pressure on their weary relievers.
Houston, which won its fourth straight game with a 9-5 victory over Chicago on Friday, sits just two games behind the AL West-leading Texas Rangers and a half-game shy of the second-place Seattle Mariners.
Since May 1, the Astros’ bullpen has a 3.01 ERA, third in the majors behind only the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Houston had to use six relievers on Friday, though, after starter Spencer Arrighetti exited after one inning because of nerve irritation in his right foot.
Hoping to provide stability, Houston on Saturday will start Hunter Brown (1-1, 4.05 ERA), who’s struggled to find his rhythm in three July starts. An All-Star last season, the right-hander will make just his ninth start of the year after missing 2 1/2 months with a right shoulder strain. The 27-year-old is 0-1 with a 7.98 ERA in July and has failed to complete five innings in two of his past three starts.
Brown yielded four runs on three hits in 4 2/3 frames on Sunday, walking six and striking out four in a 5-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
Despite Brown’s recent rough patch, Houston manager Joe Espada is trying to find the positives from his pitcher’s latest outing.
“I actually thought his stuff was so much better than his previous two starts,” Espada said. “He was just off, spraying the zone, not really throwing a ton of his strikes. That part was very uncharacteristic of him. That’s not the Hunter we’ve seen in the past, but we’ll go back to work and get him right.”
Brown’s command issues have been at the forefront of his struggles as he has allowed 15 walks in his past three starts, covering 14 2/3 innings. His average of 6.3 walks per nine innings is the highest in his five-year major league career. Brown averaged just 2.8 walks per nine innings last season.
“Just not winning the swing pitches; 2-2s and 3-2s are just turning into walks,” said Brown, who also hit two batters in his most recent start.
Vying for his first win since March 31, Brown will make his fifth career start against the White Sox. He’s 4-0 with a 2.92 ERA in the four previous matchups.
Chicago also will look for better luck on the mound after blowing a five-run lead on Friday and allowing at least nine runs for the second time in three games. The White Sox enter the contest 1 1/2 games in front of the Cleveland Guardians atop the AL Central.
Sean Burke (7-4, 3.20 ERA) will search for his third straight victory in July amid a dominant stretch for the 26-year-old right-hander. Burke is 2-0 with an 0.92 ERA in his past three starts, striking out 25 batters and walking just one. On Sunday, Burke threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out five and walking one in a 3-0 road win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
“He’s just being aggressive with the fastball, and you kind of feel it when he’s doing it, and his confidence in it just radiates,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Once he’s able to establish that, he goes to the off-speed stuff. He has the cutter, slider and the curveball working for him in spots, but it really comes after the fastball for me.”
Burke will want to fare better than he did in his only previous appearance against the Astros, when he surrendered seven runs on eight hits across 3 2/3 innings in a 10-2 loss on June 11, 2025.
–Field Level Media
