Over 3 1/2 years ago, Astros center fielder Jake Meyers tore his left labrum while scaling the Rate Field wall in an ill-fated attempt to rob Gavin Sheets of a home run in Game 4 of the ALDS, sidelining him not only for Houston's playoff run but also the first three months of the following season.
On Saturday, Meyers exacted his long-awaited, brutal revenge. Houston's No. 9 hitter smacked two homers to left, a game-tying two-run triple past Brooks Baldwin making his first start in center, and a wholly unnecessary RBI double off Jared Shuster in the eighth to set a career-high with seven runs driven in.
"We tried everything we had," Will Venable said. "Gave him different looks and he was able to put really good swings on mistakes over the plate, so credit to him. And unfortunately, we just weren't able to get him out."
In a game where the beleaguered Sox offense achieved a 90th percentile outcome by scrapping together three first inning runs on four singles against the American League's hottest starter in Hunter Brown, the Astros receiving a 150th percentile performance from a light-hitting outfielder wiped it away to stop a season-long winning Sox streak at two games.
Davis Martin was stuck with a no decision after five innings of work that displayed the charms and limitations of a kitchen-sink righty who pitches above his middling stuff. Following Jonathan Cannon's lead, Martin issued no free passes, which allowed him the space to wriggle out of jams in each of the first three innings. But his new slider popped out of his hand just like the old one for a Meyers solo shot in the third, and when the Astros center fielder drilled a middle-middle full count heater for a two-run triple that knotted the game at 3 in the fourth, it marked the third time on the afternoon Martin allowed a hit after starting with an 0-2 count. For the sake of posterity, Isaac Paredes also flipped a slider for a single after falling behind 1-2 to Martin in the third.
"I set up things like I wanted to set them up," Martin said. "I executed things like I wanted to execute things. This is the major leagues, 1 through 9 can beat you, and [Meyers] beat me. You've got to tip the cap, and you've got to move on."
In a larger representation of starting out strong and blowing the landing, Fraser Ellard relieved Martin in the sixth and opened things up by striking out Yanier Díaz and Victor Carantini. But back-to-back two-out walks prompted Will Venable to call for Penn Murfee, hoping the struggling side-armer could offer a weird look to throw off Meyers' career day. Instead, Meyers socked a front door sweeper over the White Sox bullpen to make it 6-3, and it was mostly academic from there on out.
Brown contracting an acute case of BABIPitis seemed like the breakthrough the White Sox need at first. Out of Chase Meidroth, Miguel Vargas, Andrew Benintendi and Andrew Vaughn's first inning singles, only Vargas jumped on a pitch location or produced a contact quality that Brown might truly lament. But the three runs on the board after Vaughn dumped a high fastball into short center for a two-out, two-run doink still marked more damage than Brown had allowed over his last four starts, and obviously felt like a breakthrough for the hitter involved.
Order was asserted afterward though, as Brown struck out nine, didn't allow a hit after the first, and finished his outing by striking out the side in the sixth on 15 pitches. Stopping him short of a longer outing had no ill effects, as back-to-back one-out singles from Vaughn and Matt Thaiss in the ninth were the only Sox hits after the first inning.
"He settled in and we weren't able to change anything," Benintendi said. "His stuff was really good in the first inning, we just got some pitches to hit. Then obviously he settled down and kind of went to his offspeed a little more, and was able to still use the heater late. It still had a lot of life on it, so yeah, you tip your cap."
Bullet points:
*Brown may have needed a moment to settle in against other White Sox hitters, but not Luis Robert Jr., who struck out three times and on different pitches in each encounter. Bryan Abreu also struck Robert out by pelting him with sliders in the eighth, so maybe it wasn't just Brown.
*The Sox offense drew four walks even amid the carnage. This lineup will not chase, it's just that getting them out doesn't necessarily require that.
*Murfee is one of the few Sox relievers with a full season of major league success in his career history, but he has a 7.82 ERA with three homers allowed in 12 2/3 innings.
*Vaughn's two singles give him three multi-hit games on the season.
