Bullpen Stars of Houston Astros Let Them Down in Wild Card Series

The stars of the bullpen let the Houston Astros down in Game 2

Oct 2, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Josh Hader (71) reacts after give up three runs against the Detroit Tigers during the eighth inning of game two of the Wildcard round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Minute Maid Park. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros saw their season come to an end at home in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Detroit Tigers. 

For the first time in eight years, the American League will not feature the Astros in the League Championship Series, as their streak of seven straight appearances has been snapped by the Tigers. 

A lot of credit has to go to Detroit and manager A.J. Hinch, as he had an excellent plan to end this series in two games, as he threw almost every arm he had against Houston in Game 2. 

For the Astros, this loss will surely sting considering they had a lead late. Hunter Brown got the ball to start the game, and despite being young and inexperienced compared to some of his veteran teammates in the postseason, he was excellent. 

In the no decision, Brown went 5.2 innings, struck out nine batters, and allowed just one solo home run to Parker Meadows. Brown deserved to get a win in this game with his strong performance, but the stars of the bullpen were unable to get it done for Houston. 

After taking a lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Astros went to Ryan Pressly in the eighth inning. After striking out Meadows to start the inning, Pressly then allowed back-to-back base hits, and the Tigers were set up with runners on the corners and just one out. 

A theme of the short series was that Detroit was really aggressive on the base paths going from first to third and it certainly put a lot of pressure on the pitchers for the Astros. After allowing the base hit, the right-hander then threw a wild pitch which allowed the tying runner to score. 

The veteran then struck out Riley Greene before walking Colt Keith, who was the final batter before he was pulled. With the game tied in a big spot with two runners on, Houston went to their star closer to get them out of a jam. However, Hader walked a runner to load the bases and then allowed a base-clearing triple to Andy Ibanez, which essentially ended the game. 

Houston brought in Hader in free agency to be an anchor for them in the backend of the bullpen and help in big situations like in Game 2. However, he simply didn’t get the job done and him and Pressly should take a good bulk of the blame for the loss.