In Game 1 of the wild card series, the Chicago White Sox bullpen delivered an excellent performance to silence the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on Tuesday with a 6-3 win. Hagen Smith gave the Sox three strong scoreless innings to start, while Grant Taylor did the heavy lifting in the last two innings, throwing 54 pitches to save the day for the White Sox. The South Siders take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series against Houston.
Will Venable announced that starting pitcher Sean Burke will take the mound in Game 2 on Wednesday, a fixture the Sox have to win to be able to advance to face the division-rival Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS. However, the Astros are expected to pull up a fight to keep their hopes of making it to the ALDS, so Game 2 is a must-win. That’s why Venable is strategically sending his best pitcher to neutralize Houston’s power-hitters, Yordan Álvarez and Isaac Paredes.
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Burke is White Sox’ MLB-leading use of openers and has a 3.34 ERA in a career-high 172⅓ innings this year. With 185 strikeouts this season, a 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings rate, and a 2.98 K/BB, Burke is the right guy to shut down any form of offensive plan that Houston has in store for Wednesday.
Chicago‘s right-hander Sean Burke had a good record against the Astros during the regular season. He had one win and one loss, striking out 10 Houston players, batting through 6.0 innings on July 25, and on September 1 threw 5.2 innings, allowing just one hit, striking out 6, and not allowing any home runs. Nonetheless, it must be noted that at the top of Houston’s batting order, Yordan Alvarez, Isaac Paredes and Jeremy Pena have all hit better against the righties this season.
Pena, Paredes and Alvarez all struggled to hit in the opening three innings against Smith. But 28 of Alvarez’s 42 home runs this year have come against right-handed pitchers, while Parades has had 90 hits in 364 at-bats against them. The first inning will be a tough task for Burke, who is on the heels of a breakout season. Burke’s primary way of neutralizing the Houston sluggers is to continue with his pitching blueprint – 95-98 mph fastballs, vertical curveballs (used 20% this season), and sharp breaking balls (used 35%).
However, the biggest question will be how many innings Venable plans to use Burke against the Astros. This season, he has often gone five to six innings, and he can do the same against the Houstons but his pitch count has to be well managed so that he doesn’t get burned out early. Also, the Astros hitters are known to adjust quickly to pitchers’ technique, which Venable must avoid by bringing in relievers like Erick Fedde or Bryan Hudson.
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Since MLB switched to the Wild Card Series format, teams that win Game 1 are 15-1 in the series. That’s not to say that the White Sox work is finished, but to point out that momentum is on their side. The Astros will send their ace, Hunter Brown, to the hill to try to even up the series on Wednesday. In Brown’s two starts against the Sox during the regular season, he recorded a 1.38 ERA, 14 strikeouts in 13 innings. This season, he went 6-4 with a 3.19 ERA, a 1.267 WHIP and 124 strikeouts in 107.1 innings. But with Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery back to their best, the offense can perform better than they did in July and early September.
Houston cannot be taken for granted, as they are a very talented team with a powerful offense that can change the series in a hurry. In the postseason, all hands are on deck, so it’s possible that those who pitched on Tuesday will be available for Wednesday’s game. If the White Sox can win one of the next two games in the wild card series, they can open the series against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Saturday, with Game 2 taking place on Monday.
Main Photo: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images
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