A pesky Blue Jays lineup drove up Astros ace Hunter Brown’s pitch count as he worked just three innings Monday in his second start back from the injured list.
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Toronto Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr., left, takes a lead off first base against Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown, right, during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros infielder Jose Altuve misplays a ground ball off the bat of Toronto Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown throws to a Toronto Blue Jays batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown winds up to deliver to a Toronto Blue Jays batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve fouls off a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve fouls off a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease throws to a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease winds up to deliver to a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease throws to a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease throws to a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease throws to a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pena, left, slides safely into second base with a steal ahead of a tag by Toronto Blue Jays infielder Andres Gimenez during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pena (3) hits a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho (5) makes a catch on a fly ball off the bat of Houston Astros’ Joey Loperfido during fifth inning MLB baseball action in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays’ Andres Gimenez (0) scores a run ahead of a tag by Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz off a fly-out by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. during fourth inning MLB baseball action in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. loses his helmet while swinging at a pitch during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays’ Jesus Sanchez (12) reacts after ducking an inside pitch from Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown during third inning MLB baseball action in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement, center top, throws to first base to complete a double play after forcing out Houston Astros’ Yainer Diaz (21) during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros outfielder Jake Meyers, bottom, misplays a fly ball off the bat of Toronto Blue Jays’ Nathan Lukes in front of teammate Yordan Alvarez, right, during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros infielder Jose Altuve throws to first base to put out Toronto Blue Jays’ Alejandro Kirk during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros infielder Jose Altuve fields a ground ball off the bat of Toronto Blue Jays’ Alejandro Kirk during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
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TORONTO — After two taxing at-bats, Hunter Brown hovered on the edge of a clean first inning. His 16th pitch forged a two-strike count on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. One more promised a walk back to his dugout.
Instead, on the sixth pitch he saw, Guerrero struck a slow chopper for an infield single. Alejandro Kirk punched a two-strike sinker to right field for a hit. Not until his 28th pitch, a fastball fired past Daulton Varsho, did Brown escape the inning.
It distilled a strenuous night for the Houston Astros‘ ace. In his second start back from a shoulder strain, Brown lasted three laborious innings Monday in a 4-2 loss to the Blue Jays, whose dogged lineup drove up his pitch count even as it did little damage against him.
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Brown allowed just one run but threw 85 pitches to record nine outs. He threw 37 of those pitches after getting to two strikes in the count. Eight of 17 batters he faced reached base, seven with two outs. For a pitcher prone to dominance, it was a decided slog.
“As a starting pitcher, you typically have four or five pitches so you can navigate it on any given night,” Brown said. “Maybe three of those five are working, or even two. And tonight, I just had zero. It’s just one of those games where I just had really poor command, control, just really couldn’t figure it out. Did the best I could, and it just was not a good night.”
The outing was Brown’s shortest since April 11, 2024, when he did not make it out of the first inning in Kansas City. That it occurred six days removed from his return from a 2 ½-month stint on the injured list, the first of his career, invites the idea Brown is still regaining his form.
In his first start back, Brown did hold the Detroit Tigers to one run across 5 ⅔ innings. His presence on the mound alone offered a jolt to an Astros team that was treading water while awaiting its ace. Brown did not cling to his hiatus as a culprit for Monday.
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“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,” Brown said. “But it happens. It’s all about a rhythm thing, you want to find it and get into a groove as a starting pitcher, that’s what you try to do. And couldn’t get that done today.”
Brown walked two batters and hit two others, but he also threw 64% strikes. Nine batted balls put into play against him averaged an 87.3 mph exit velocity. He was not hit around.
His run allowed scored when Kazuma Okamoto hit a full-count 92.5 mph sinker into the left-field seats leading off the second inning. Brown’s velocity fluctuated somewhat. His sinker averaged 94.6 mph, as compared to 95.7 mph over his first three starts this season. His four-seamer touched 97.7 mph in the first inning and induced five whiffs on 15 swings.
“Stuff-wise was good,” manager Joe Espada said. “But they just made him work. Pitch count got up and after coming back from an IL, we’ve got to be cautious. But health-wise, he looked fine.”
BATTERS
AVG
OBA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
E
Team Totals
.242
.317
2681
358
650
130
5
103
343
267
656
26
12
30
Wade
.333
.385
12
2
4
2
0
1
4
1
3
0
0
0
Alvarez
.323
.431
285
55
92
15
0
25
56
51
58
1
0
1
Peña
.286
.345
161
29
46
9
0
6
18
12
28
7
1
5
Delgado
.286
.286
14
1
4
0
0
0
2
0
2
0
0
1
Correa
.279
.369
122
22
34
8
0
3
16
18
26
1
0
1
Trammell
.273
.333
77
9
21
5
1
0
7
6
32
1
0
1
Allen
.250
.290
64
12
16
2
0
1
5
3
14
1
0
0
Paredes
.247
.350
259
31
64
14
0
10
38
31
50
0
0
6
Shewmake
.243
.260
74
8
18
3
0
3
8
2
13
0
0
1
Walker
.238
.312
294
43
70
14
1
18
52
28
71
0
0
0
Diaz
.237
.264
114
8
27
6
0
2
15
5
19
0
1
0
Altuve
.236
.311
216
33
51
11
0
8
21
23
55
1
2
2
Loperfido
.229
.330
83
11
19
7
0
0
7
12
23
1
1
1
Harris
.226
.286
31
4
7
0
1
0
4
2
6
2
0
0
Smith
.219
.300
260
30
57
12
1
7
26
27
77
8
1
4
Vázquez
.219
.280
151
16
33
6
0
4
19
13
27
0
0
0
Matthews
.209
.258
177
18
37
5
1
6
18
12
61
2
4
1
Meyers
.205
.263
122
13
25
5
0
3
11
9
28
1
2
0
Dezenzo
.191
.255
47
5
9
4
0
1
2
4
19
0
0
0
Price
.167
.231
12
1
2
1
0
0
0
1
6
0
0
1
Cole
.157
.189
51
4
8
1
0
3
8
1
21
0
0
1
Johnson
.143
.294
14
1
2
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
Whitcomb
.130
.167
23
2
3
0
0
2
5
1
11
0
0
0
Salazar
.056
.227
18
0
1
0
0
0
1
3
3
0
0
0
___
PITCHERS
W
L
ERA
G
GS
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
Team Totals
37
43
4.84
80
80
22
705.1
642
401
379
102
351
689
Santa
0
1
0.71
8
0
0
12.2
5
5
1
0
5
8
Hader
1
0
1.12
8
0
5
8
2
1
1
1
1
13
Brown
1
0
1.40
4
4
0
19.1
12
3
3
1
11
28
VanWey
0
0
2.25
4
0
0
4
4
1
1
0
0
5
King
2
1
2.45
31
0
6
33
28
11
9
1
14
26
Okert
0
0
2.48
36
1
0
36.1
21
10
10
3
11
34
Arrighetti
7
3
3.13
12
12
0
69
51
26
24
6
32
68
Lambert
6
4
3.23
11
11
0
64
46
23
23
6
25
58
Blubaugh
3
2
3.81
31
0
0
49.2
35
22
21
5
29
45
Teng
4
6
4.03
22
9
0
60.1
51
30
27
9
27
62
Pearson
1
0
4.22
9
0
1
10.2
11
5
5
1
4
10
De Los Santos
0
2
4.32
32
0
4
33.1
29
17
16
2
8
33
Roa
0
1
5.19
7
0
0
8.2
10
5
5
1
7
6
Bolton
0
1
5.40
8
3
1
20
21
12
12
3
14
22
Burrows
3
8
5.79
15
14
0
79.1
95
54
51
18
30
66
Imai
4
3
6.15
10
10
0
41
35
28
28
6
24
48
Abreu
2
3
6.39
29
0
5
25.1
22
20
18
6
24
33
McCullers
2
3
6.86
8
8
0
39.1
38
32
30
7
22
43
Murray
0
0
7.43
8
0
0
13.1
19
11
11
1
7
8
Weiss
0
3
7.62
9
2
0
26
35
24
22
8
20
30
France
0
0
8.10
3
0
0
6.2
6
6
6
1
5
4
Sousa
0
0
8.10
5
0
0
3.1
3
3
3
0
5
4
Salazar
0
0
9.00
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
Alexander
1
1
9.33
4
2
0
18.1
21
19
19
4
8
14
Gordon
0
0
11.57
4
1
0
9.1
21
12
12
6
3
11
Javier
0
1
12.54
3
3
0
9.1
13
13
13
2
9
4
Muñoz
0
0
15.75
3
0
0
4
7
7
7
3
6
6
Toronto’s can be a persistent lineup. The Blue Jays entered Monday with the majors’ highest chase rate and second-highest swing rate, per Baseball Savant. Just one club owned a lower strikeout rate, though, with only four whiffing at a lower clip.
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Brown built two-strike counts on 15 of 17 batters he faced. He finished with four strikeouts, generating eight whiffs on 37 swings.
“A lot of well-executed pitches with two strikes, and they fouled pitches off and drove that pitch count up,” Espada said.
After two innings, Brown stood at 51 pitches. It did not portend a long outing but prompted awareness of the situation. Houston was playing its fourth game Monday in a stretch of 13 with no off day. It has a shorthanded bullpen with six starters on the roster. Brown had that in mind to begin the third.
“You try to invite some contact so maybe you can squeak out four or five (innings) for the bullpen, and that just didn’t happen,” Brown said. “I feel like the pitches I threw in zone they fouled off or took and then sprinkled in a couple hits. But I felt like every count I was 3-2, struggled to put guys away, and just didn’t really get it done.”
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Brown retired his first two hitters in the third inning. But behind 0-2, Varsho worked an eight-pitch walk. Okamoto saw seven pitches in a walk. Brown sailed a two-strike sinker that grazed Jesús Sánchez to load the bases. His final pitch, a slider, induced a grounder from Ernie Clement to end the inning. The Astros, practicing prudence with their ace just returned, deemed that enough.
“Physically, I feel good,” Brown said. “I was ready to come back when I did in the last turn around in the rotation. I still feel good. Just get ready for the next one.”