NEW YORK - Amid a troubling stretch for the Houston Astros rotation, an ace restored order. Fourteen games elapsed without an Astros starter finishing six innings before Hunter Brown took the mound at Citi Field on Friday. Half of those games saw their starter work 4 ⅓ innings or fewer, taxing a bullpen showing signs of strain. The rotation posted a 5.64 ERA in that span. Just two teams had a higher one.
The formula feels unsustainable for a team with playoff aspirations, but nor are solutions apparent for this team's pitching instability. Houston has three starters in which it shows trust. One, Peter Lambert, already is nearing a career-high innings total. Another, Hayden Wesneski, has not surpassed 91 pitches yet in six starts back from elbow surgery.
With both Cristian Javier and Tatsuya Imai - the two highest-paid starters on their roster - rested, the Astros will deploy an opener Saturday against the Mets. Bennett Sousa will draw the assignment, two days after a messy seventh inning at Yankee Stadium. Javier and Imai would ostensibly be available for bulk innings, but Imai has been on ice, appearing in three games this month.
Houston's bullpen has essentially been operating a man short as a result, magnifying the workload its regular relievers have shouldered. Steven Okert entered Friday with the third-most outings among AL relievers and AJ Blubaugh with the most relief innings in the majors. Okert, Enyel De Los Santos and Bryan Abreu were all among the 33 relievers in the league with at least 52 appearances.
Maintaining key arms for a playoff push is desirable, but the Astros' lack of cushion - a two-game lead over Texas in the AL West after their 3-1 win Friday - complicates strategic rest. So does the rotation's recent lack of reliability, forcing them to rely heavily on leverage relievers to secure wins. Getting more from that group seems critical over the final 27 games of their season.
No pitcher is better suited to provide than Brown, the 2025 Cy Young finalist whose inconsistency upon his return from a shoulder injury diminished his potential impact. Brown entered Friday with a 3.51 ERA in 14 starts, yet nearly as many had lasted fewer than five innings (four) as comprised six or more (five). Houston had not won in his four August starts, though largely due to totaling 10 runs in those games.
Friday, Brown provided both quality and length. He bulled through 6 ⅔ innings of one-run ball against the Mets, scattering five hits and striking out a season-high 10 batters. He issued one walk, avoiding an issue that has inflated pitch counts in some other outings. He exited with Houston leading and needing just seven outs from its bullpen, which it got from Abreu and Josh Hader.
"That's the Hunter that we're used to seeing," manager Joe Espada said.
Shaky feel for his four-seam fastball hounded Brown for a while, but he has harnessed the pitch better over his past two outings. He threw it in-zone 52% of the time Friday, while throwing his sinker in-zone 71% of the time. Both helped set up secondary pitches that were sharp, as he finished four strikeouts with his curveball and three others with his slider or changeup.
"I thought I had both fastballs going, I thought actually both my breaking balls were pretty good, and I was able to mix in some good changeups," Brown said. "(Catcher Yainer) Diaz called a heck of a game tonight, he was really good back there."
2026 ASTROS STATS
BATTERSAVGOBAABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSOSBCSETeam Totals.242.31745416161097197151795864511107411960Alvarez.318.43547889152281369193102102Peña.283.338336659515116442281919Correa.279.3691222234803161826101Allen.264.308121213240213827205Diaz.261.289257286710010331042022Paredes.260.3584655212123117735771007Shewmake.256.2727810204039213002Altuve.246.3104196010317214413893435Delgado.243.3003749101437002Walker.231.30548064111251247543126002Harris.226.2863147010426200Loperfido.216.3141021322711121431111Vázquez.214.2692202147707251748101Smith.213.27942856911541748361191025Meyers.213.2681411530703111031120Dezenzo.213.2807511164013731101Trammell.207.2931982641627202069332Wade.206.330971320502151827000Matthews.197.2502082341517221571441Varsho.195.258827163039721100Price.167.2311212100016001Spence.162.24437461003315011Cole.157.18951481038121001Johnson.143.2941412000023000Whitcomb.130.16723230025111000Salazar.056.2271801000133000Velázquez.000.0001100000106000___
PITCHERSWLERAGGSSVIPHRERHRBBSOTeam Totals68674.63135135411198.110806586161775531186Meyers000.001001000000Hader410.763602035.1133311148Santa011.17100015.1862169VanWey101.505006521005Okert622.17661066.144171671466Blubaugh423.17510182.1623129103484Brown433.331515081613230104486Pearson103.601601201610811216Lambert873.662323012810654521351125Wesneski413.8666032.227141421228Abreu534.0653075136252373665Teng564.222710070.1633733103071Ullola004.504006433219Arrighetti754.601717088684745125087De Los Santos234.67580561.259363281457King234.7551165357302881944Roa015.197008.21055176Imai645.321815067.255404094483Bolton015.408312021121231422Burrows495.991817094.21126963213575Sousa136.27220018.224151321021Javier146.47128040.148292981938McCullers236.8688039.138323072243Murray007.4380013.1191111178Weiss037.629202635242282030Blanco017.7154023.122202071220Pecko007.882208877275France008.103006.2666154Salazar009.001001111100Alexander119.3342018.12119194814Gordon0011.574109.12112126311Muñoz0015.753004777366Wade0018.001001322100Brown's increased walk rate this season - 13.7% entering Friday - has dovetailed with a dip in strikeout rate. Hitters have swung less against him, but they've also whiffed on fewer swings. Brown's whiff and chase rates were both down about 3% from last season entering Friday, and his strikeout rate down by about 4% from a career-high 28.3% last year.
The Mets, who entered with the majors' fifth-lowest OPS and are missing Juan Soto to the injured list, whiffed on 32% of their swings against Brown. Fourteen total whiffs were the second-most Brown has generated in an outing this season - he notched 20 against the White Sox on July 25. The double-digit strikeout game was the third of his career.
"He's been working on trying to tunnel his pitches and just good delivery and staying connected," Espada said. "It's just a matter of time and it looks like everything's coming along at the right time."
Left-handed hitters entered Friday with a .755 OPS against Brown this season. Five left-handed hitters in the Mets lineup combined for two hits and seven strikeouts against him. The two hits did produce their lone run - Francisco Lindor singled in the fourth inning and scored on a double by Carson Benge. Brown struck Lindor out twice looking at four-seamers and Benge twice swinging at curveballs.
Brown recorded his final strikeout on a front-door sinker to left-handed Jared Young. He said afterward the sinker is currently "the pitch that I feel like I can command the best (to) glove-side and arm-side," reflected in its increased use against left-handed hitters. Five of six sinkers the Mets put in play against him went for outs. Espada noted the pitch is enhanced when Brown commands his four-seamer, too.
Outside of the fourth inning, Brown avoided damage. His offense manufactured three runs in the sixth, allowing him to work with a lead for the first time. Brown responded with a shutdown half-inning with two strikeouts. At 91 pitches, Espada sent him back to the mound for the seventh. A two-out single by Marcus Semien ended his night at 102 pitches but did not alter the game's outcome.
In the fourth game of 13 in a row, Espada said, Brown's outing allowed the Astros to "save some bullets for the next few days." Such is the ripple effect of Brown at his best, the version they all but need him to resemble over the season's final month.
"You want to give the guys a chance to win, so that's going to be my goal," Brown said. "I think that's everybody's goal in this clubhouse."
SubscribeThere’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Houston Astros' Hunter Brown restores order, helps provide rest for a weary bullpen.
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