Brown's one rocky inning too much to overcome

Astros rookie tagged for 5-run 3rd as up-and-down campaign continues

June 20th, 2023

HOUSTON -- The ups and downs of a young pitcher working his way through his rookie season were encapsulated in 5 2/3 innings Monday night at Minute Maid Park. Astros rookie , facing off against three-time Cy Young winner , breezed through each of his innings except the third, when the Mets had their way against him.

Daniel Vogelbach started the third with a leadoff homer and Francisco Lindor capped the five-run outburst with a three-run shot to send the Mets on their way to an 11-1 win over the Astros, who have dropped five games in a row for the first time since a six-game skid in April 2021.

“They put some good swings on it,” Brown said. “I don't know, they stuck it to me, really. I have nothing else to say other than that.”

Brown (6-4, 3.78 ERA) threw seven scoreless innings in his previous start against the Nationals on Tuesday before giving up six runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings on Monday. He’s had five starts this year in which he’s pitched at least seven innings -- not giving up an earned run in four of those -- and five starts in which he didn’t finish five innings.

“You’re going to have to live with that,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “I’m sure he’s not happy about it. This is a fact. That’s how it is.”

Brown needed only 23 pitches to blow through two innings, matching Scherzer pitch for pitch. Vogelbach’s towering homer to right changed the flow of the night, with four of the next five hitters reaching base, capped by Lindor's homer that made it 5-0.

“They made some adjustments, I guess,” Baker said. “That third inning, they started attacking the ball. He was good in any other inning except the third. … That third inning we just couldn’t close the door on them.”

Vogelbach turned on a high fastball and sailed the ball just over the fence in right field. The ball traveled a projected 343 feet, but it would have been a homer in 19 of the 30 ballparks, according to Statcast. It was in the air for nearly seven seconds before it cleared the fence.

“He just put a really good swing on it,” Brown said. “Lindor, [I] missed my spot. … It’s hard to say it’s not a horrible pitch when they hit it hard and get a knock off you. Lindor was a big mistake. Vogelbach, I wanted to elevate a heater there, and he put a good swing on it.”

Brown sent down eight of the next 10 hitters after the Lindor homer, but he couldn’t finish the sixth. The righty threw 98 pitches, split mostly between his fastball, curve and slider, and saw his ERA rise to 3.78 through 14 starts. He’s given up eight homers in his past eight starts after not allowing any in his first six outings.

“That’s just baseball,” Brown said. “I’m trying to stick to the process, and hopefully, continue to get better and try to shell out some good outings for this ballclub.”

Scherzer, pitching at Minute Maid Park for the first time since he started Game 7 of the 2019 World Series for the Nationals, went a season-high eight innings and allowed one run and four hits while striking out eight batters. Yainer Diaz’s sixth homer of the season in the seventh inning was the only run and the only extra-base hit the struggling Astros managed.

"He's throwing against guys that really hadn't seen a slider like that,” Baker said of Scherzer. “If you're an aggressive hitter, he knows what to do. This guy, he knows how to pitch. It looks easy from up there or even this dugout, but it's more difficult at the plate. The guy's a great pitcher. Whether he has his fastball or not, he knows what to do. He did his homework. I know him pretty well. He's prepared as well as almost anybody."

Baker sent rookie Shawn Dubin to the mound in the seventh for his Major League debut. He was able to close out the final three innings, but not before the Mets tagged him for five runs in the ninth to send the Astros to their most lopsided loss of the season.

“I hated to have to leave Dubin out there in his first appearance because he threw the ball well, but he was saving our bullpen for the next couple of days," Baker said. “We got beat up pretty good.”

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Supervising Club Reporter Brian McTaggart has covered the Astros since 2004, and for MLB.com since 2009.