Astros' third straight loss puts spotlight on rotation trio

ANAHEIM -- The Astros’ pitching rotation is less experienced than it was 10 days ago -- before the club lost workhorse starters José Urquidy and Luis Garcia to long-term injuries on consecutive nights. Those setbacks, combined with the injury suffered by Lance McCullers Jr. in the spring, have provided opportunities to rookies Hunter Brown and J.P. France as well as Brandon Bielak to try to fill the void.

The trio pitched in successive games Saturday, Sunday and Monday for the first time this season, with the Astros losing all three games by two runs. The Angels tagged Brown for four runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings in Monday’s 6-4 loss at Angel Stadium that dropped Houston back under .500 at 17-18.

“They hit a couple of balls hard,” Brown said. “I couldn’t keep the lead. They did some damage to keep themselves in the game.”

France pitched well in his Major League debut Saturday, throwing five scoreless innings, before the bullpen allowed the Mariners to score seven runs in the eighth inning. Bielak, in his first start since 2021, gave up three runs (two earned) and 10 hits in Sunday’s loss in Seattle.

Combined, France, Bielak and Brown gave up seven runs (six earned) and 22 hits in 14 innings of work, with the bullpen picking up the final 10 innings in those three games and giving up nine earned runs and 12 hits. Rafael Montero gave up two runs in the ninth Monday, pushing his ERA to 6.14. Montero has allowed seven runs, two walks and five hits in his last 2 2/3 innings over three outings.

“Montero’s been so good for us,” manager Dusty Baker said. “It just hurts to keep losing them late.”

Brown, coming off his first career loss, generated only three swings-and-misses in his 95-pitch effort, which meant the Angels made a lot of contact. Los Angeles averaged 95.6 mph exit velocity, including a second-inning homer by right fielder Hunter Renfroe that was the first allowed in Brown’s young career.

“I can’t control necessarily if they swing and miss,” Brown said. “You ask yourself if you can do a better job of executing the location, but I think some teams are just different, and some players see things [differently], and that kind of plays a major role in what’s going to be the result.”

Baker said Brown may have been overthrowing his slider, saying the pitch was a little firmer than usual. The pitch was .5 mph harder Monday than his season average coming into the game, according to Statcast.

“He had good stuff; he had good velocity,” Baker said. “But these guys over there, they’ve got a good-hitting team. They got some personnel that were hurt last year, and you’ve certainly got to pitch them tough. We scored some runs, had some rallies, had some guys swinging better, which is a positive, but you just hate to lose them late.”

The Astros will need ace lefty Framber Valdez to play stopper Tuesday in a tough assignment against Shohei Ohtani, and the reliable Cristian Javier will throw Wednesday's series finale. The Astros know what they’re going to get with Valdez and Javier, but the onus is on Brown, France and Bielak to pitch deeper into games moving forward.

“We hope so,” Baker said. “That puts a lot of pressure on our bullpen, and you have to go to who’s the freshest, not the best matchup. Now we’re pitching for the off-day. We have an off-day in two days, so hopefully we’ll get deep into the game tomorrow with Framber and [then] Javier.”

Brown, 24, will be a huge piece in Houston’s rotation for years to come, even after the club gets completely healthy. The Astros’ former top prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, Brown understands growing pains are part of the maturing process.

“I just have to keep competing,” he said. “There’s nothing I want to do more than help this team win, and I’m going to put my head down and get back to work."