Brown unable to find command in second start back from injured list

TORONTO -- Coming off three straight series victories, the Astros arrived at Rogers Centre with their ace on the mound and a chance to continue their surge up the American League West standings.

Things didn’t quite play out as planned for Houston in Monday’s series opener, however, as Hunter Brown was chased after just three innings and the Astros’ bats couldn’t come through late in a 4-2 loss to the Blue Jays.

Making his second start since returning from the injured list, Brown battled through some shaky command and a slew of Blue Jays baserunners before Astros manager Joe Espada made the move to his bullpen.

“As a starting pitcher, you typically have four or five pitches so you can navigate any given night. Maybe three of those five are working, or even two. And tonight I just had zero,” Brown said. “Just one of those games where I had really poor command and control. Just couldn’t really figure it out.

“Didn’t do the best I could, and it was not a good night.”

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Despite surrendering four hits, two walks and hitting two batters, Brown ultimately finished his outing having allowed only one run on 85 pitches (54 strikes) -- a leadoff homer by Kazuma Okamoto in the second inning -- but couldn’t find a way to finish innings.

In each of his three frames, Brown threw at least 23 pitches and permitted multiple baserunners to reach after recording the first two outs.

“I feel like the pitches I threw in the zone, they fouled off or took and then sprinkled in a couple hits,” Brown said. “But it felt like every count was 3-2. I struggled to put guys away and just didn’t really get it done.”

While he made some big pitches to work out of those jams, his pitch count added up quickly, sending Brown to his shortest start since April 11, 2024, against the Royals.

Brown leaned heavily on his sinker (32 thrown) and four-seam fastball (24) while averaging 94.6 mph and 95.6 on the two offerings.

“Stuff-wise was good,” Espada said of Brown’s outing. “They made him work, and the pitch count got up. Coming back from an IL [stint], we got to be cautious. But health-wise, he looked fine.”

Brown’s first start back from the IL was a resounding success, as he punched out seven while holding the Tigers to one run over 5 2/3 innings in a 4-2 comeback victory on Tuesday. But as is the case with any injury, finding a return to consistent form isn’t guaranteed right away.

“It’s hard to say,” Brown said when asked how much of Monday’s start stemmed from his injury. “I think back to the last time I had a day where I just really couldn’t find it. It’s been a long time, but it happens. So it’s all about a rhythm thing. You want to find it … and I couldn’t get that done today.”

Even with the shortened outing, Brown stranding seven Blue Jays baserunners helped the Astros stay within reach.

Houston’s offense just couldn’t strike often enough when it put runners of its own on.

The Astros grounded into three double plays in the loss, including one in the first inning with the bases loaded, when they appeared to have Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease on the ropes with a run already home.

“We came up with a really good plan. We loaded the bases early with some really good at-bats,” Espada said. “We looked really good, really promising there [in the first]. We wasted some opportunities, and then [Cease] settled down.”

The next of those big opportunities came in the sixth inning, as the Astros chased Cease from the game with a pair of walks and Jose Altuve’s game-tying single. But reliever Braydon Fisher entered and induced a groundout from Yanier Diaz with the go-ahead run at third.

From there, the Blue Jays scored a pair on the Astros’ bullpen with sacrifice flies in the seventh and eighth innings to retake the lead. And while Houston pushed for the equalizers with baserunners in its final two frames, it couldn’t cash in on either rally.

“I really like how we stay in the game,” Espada said. “We tied it there with a big knock by Altuve. We just couldn’t put the game away, but I really like the way we competed today.”