DETROIT – The pitcher standing between the Detroit Tigers and the next round of the playoffs came from their very own city.
Hunter Brown, the 26-year-old right-hander starting Game 2 for the Houston Astros, played his college ball at Wayne State University, less than three miles from Comerica Park.
Brown spent three seasons at Wayne State from 2017-2019. He struck out 178 batters in 159.2 innings and posted a 3.33 ERA during that span.
Brown was a fifth-round pick by the Astros in 2019, and it took him just three years to make his MLB debut.
The Tigers and Brown have some history. In his second-career start, he returned to Detroit and fired six solid innings to beat his hometown team. The Tigers mustered just two runs and struck out six times.
Brown split his two starts against the Tigers last year, allowing four runs in a loss to open his season and then striking out nine en route to a win in late August.
This year, he dominated Detroit in a pair of games on May 11 (in relief) and June 14 (a start), throwing a combined 12 innings and allowing just 10 hits and one run while striking out 16.
Most of the hitters Brown faced in those games are in the lineup on Wednesday, including Kerry Carpenter, Matt Vierling, Riley Greene, Colt Keith, Spencer Torkelson, Zach McKinstry, and Jake Rogers.
We’ll see if the Tigers can finally get to the Detroit native in by far their most important head-to-head matchup.
It won’t be easy. Brown has been one of baseball’s best pitchers since late May, posting a 2.31 ERA and striking out 138 over 132.2 innings.
But the Tigers have been one of the best teams in baseball since the last time these teams met, so it shouldn’t be quite as easy for Brown, either.
