After 28 pitches of an absolutely maddening inning, Hunter Brown started his deliberate walk back to the dugout, head down, hat brim shielding a simmer. The dude was *not* happy, and who could blame him? His second inning on Thursday against the White Sox was the kind that makes you want to throw your glove in the stands.
Weak Contact, Big Trouble: Hunter Brown’s Nightmare Second Inning
Brown’s whole game is creating weak contact, right? And he did it! Six balls in play averaged a measly 81.3 mph exit velocity. Five of those were ground balls. But here’s the kicker: *four* of them still found their way for hits. Before he knew it, two runs had scored, completely wiping out the lead the Houston Astros had given their ace.
“Honestly, I was kind of dragging my blanket a little bit after the second inning,” Brown admitted. “I couldn’t believe that. I’m better than that than to do that. But that was unbelievable, honestly.” Braden Montgomery kicked it off, serving a two-strike curveball for an 86 mph single. Then came the bad luck: Jeremy Peña’s relay sailed on a potential double-play grounder, Chase Meidroth’s soft tapper left Brown no play, and Tristan Peters beat another relay. Jake Rogers chopped a 1-1 fastball Brown felt “good about” right up the middle; Peña made a diving stop, but Rogers still beat the throw for an RBI single. To add insult to injury, a sinker to Sam Antonacci that “leaked a little bit away” scored another. “They earned it,” Brown said, clearly seething. “I mean, it is what it is. I was really not happy about that inning.” He finished the second at 48 pitches, already at his limit.
Flipping the Switch: From Fury to Fire
Something changed. Brown wasn’t just “not happy,” he was outright angry. “So yeah, I don’t know if I got angry or , I don’t know. I just was better than that. I felt like I was better than them. And you know, that’s kind of my mindset there.” He ended that second inning by firing a 97.2 mph fastball past Munetaka Murakami, a pitch that showed a different kind of intensity. Then, the third inning started just as rough with Miguel Vargas singling and Andrew Benintendi walking, pushing Brown’s pitch count to 55.
But that was it. “And he just turned it into a different gear,” said Astros manager Joe Espada. Brown simply overrode the batted-ball luck from there on out. Braden Montgomery swung clean through a two-strike changeup. Colston Montgomery took a 2-2 sinker right over the plate. Meidroth couldn’t catch up to a two-strike four-seamer. The game pivoted right there. Houston’s offense exploded for four runs in the bottom of that same inning. Brown, who needed 55 pitches for six outs, then threw 46 pitches for the next *12* outs. He, along with three relievers, completely locked down the White Sox; not a single runner passed first base after the third inning in a huge 6-2 win. “He just went off and said, ‘This is my game, I’m going to maintain this lead,’ ” Espada added. “And you just saw a completely different demeanor out of him once he got out of that jam in the third.”
This is the Hunter Brown that can lead the Astros into a playoff series. Winning three of four games against the American League Central leaders definitely helped, and the Astros sit at 72-69 with a 2 ½-game lead in the AL West, pending Texas’ result. Every game matters right now, and Brown just delivered a statement the entire league noticed.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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