{"id":379038,"date":"2026-07-19T21:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T21:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/379038\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T21:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T21:42:11","slug":"houston-astros-swept-by-baltimore-orioles-fall-7-games-below-500","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/379038\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Astros swept by Baltimore Orioles, fall 7 games below .500"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hunter<\/p>\n

Hunter Brown struggled with his command as the Astros lost their fourth straight game and were swept in a series for the first time in three months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eric Christian Smith\/Associated Press\"Baltimore<\/p>\n

Baltimore Orioles’ Colton Cowser (17) steals second as Houston Astros second baseman Raynel Delgado, left, misses the throw during the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Eric Christian Smith)<\/p>\n

Eric Christian Smith\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown walks to the dugout after being removed during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Sunday, July 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Eric Christian Smith)<\/p>\n

Eric Christian Smith\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez reacts after hitting an RBI double against the Baltimore Orioles during the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Eric Christian Smith)<\/p>\n

Eric Christian Smith\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown reacts after walking Baltimore Orioles’ Pete Alonso during the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Eric Christian Smith)<\/p>\n

Eric Christian Smith\/Associated Press\"Baltimore<\/p>\n

Baltimore Orioles’ Pete Alonso, right, steals second base as Houston Astros second baseman Raynel Delgado, left, applies the tag during the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Eric Christian Smith)<\/p>\n

Eric Christian Smith\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown throws to the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Eric Christian Smith)<\/p>\n

Eric Christian Smith\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve reacts after hitting a solo home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Eric Christian Smith)<\/p>\n

Eric Christian Smith\/Associated Press\"Baltimore<\/p>\n

Baltimore Orioles’ Jackson Holliday, right, celebrates with Taylor Ward (3) after scoring on an RBI single hit by Gunnar Henderson during the third inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Sunday, July 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Eric Christian Smith)<\/p>\n

Eric Christian Smith\/Associated Press\"Baltimore<\/p>\n

Baltimore Orioles’ Jackson Holliday runs home to score on an RBI single hit by Gunnar Henderson during the third inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Sunday, July 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Eric Christian Smith)<\/p>\n

Eric Christian Smith\/Associated Press<\/p>\n

At a key juncture of their season, the Houston Astros<\/a> are receding. About two weeks remain until a trade deadline at which they intend to be buyers. A mediocre American League invites that idea, yet avoiding a backslide ahead of it seems critical for a club already trying to stay afloat.<\/p>\n

For their first series after the All-Star break, the Baltimore Orioles, another sub-.500 team, descended on Daikin Park and handed the Astros a three-game sweep. A 5-2 loss Sunday dropped Houston to seven games under .500 and did little to strengthen its midsummer stance.<\/p>\n

The Astros are 4-9 in July and have lost their past three series. Their offense totaled six runs across three games against Baltimore, albeit with Jeremy Pe\u00f1a and Christian Walker missing most of the past two due to injuries<\/a>. They blew a late lead Friday<\/a> and a chance for an extra-innings walk-off Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Sunday, they sent Hunter Brown to the mound trying to salvage the finale and watched their ace wrestle again with command. Their offense did little to back him, mustering one run against Orioles right-hander Brandon Young, the Lumberton product, in his seven innings.<\/p>\n

They emerged 47-54. Just two teams in MLB history have started 47-54 or worse and made the playoffs: the 2006 Dodgers, who started with that record, and the 1973 Mets, who were 44-57 after 101 games.<\/p>\n

Despite that dismal mark, the Astros entered Sunday four games back of first place in the AL West and 3 \u00bd games out of an AL wild-card spot. A runway has lingered all season for Houston to make a legitimate run and improve its positioning. It has not done so, and the runway is shortening.<\/p>\n

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Sixty-one games remain for the Astros, who are under .500 at this point for the first time since 2014. If they do attempt to add at the deadline, Sunday\u2019s loss underscored the difficulty of even deciding what area of the roster to prioritize.<\/p>\n

Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes combined for five of seven hits by a lineup that skews top-heavy and has one of baseball\u2019s least productive outfielders. A starting rotation in flux has yet to receive the version of Brown that placed third in AL Cy Young voting last year since his shoulder injury.<\/p>\n

The Astros actually out-hit the Orioles in all three games of their series, by a 22-16 total. But they went 4-for-27 with runners in scoring position and left 28 runners on base across the three games. And their uninspiring start to what could prove a pivotal month continued.<\/p>\n

A struggle for Brown<\/p>\n

Brown said in his last outing before the All-Star break he \u201creally struggled\u201d to command his four-seam fastball<\/a>. He tied a career-high with five walks in that start at Texas but still got through six innings with three runs allowed. Sunday, Brown again battled his command. And he could not mitigate it as well.<\/p>\n

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Early, Brown looked strong. His fastball velocity was up a tick and his curveball got swing-and-misses. Brown opened with two scoreless innings, navigating a hit batsman and a walk. It was a harbinger of things to come, as the middle innings derailed him.<\/p>\n

Baltimore built a two-run third inning that started with a walk to No. 9 hitter Jackson\u00a0Holliday. Brown allowed two singles and another walk before finishing it. Each of his five innings featured at least one baserunner. His command issues came to a head in the fifth.<\/p>\n

Brown got ahead 0-2 against Taylor Ward but lost him in a one-out walk. With two out, he ran a sinker into the midsection of Pete Alonso. Brown again built an 0-2 count to Sam Huff, then missed with four straight pitches to load the bases. Leody Taveras\u2019 broken-bat single scored two runs and chased him.<\/p>\n

Brown issued a career-high six walks. He also hit two batters. He threw 47 of 92 pitches for strikes and, according to Statcast, threw just 33% of his pitches in-zone. Brown generated 13 whiffs on 29 swings, a sign his stuff is still formidable, but inability to hardness it is undermining him.<\/p>\n

In six starts since returning from a shoulder injury, Brown has a 5.22 ERA in 29 \u2153 innings. He has not finished five innings in three of those outings.<\/p>\n

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Let out the clutch<\/p>\n

Lack of timely hitting fueled Houston\u2019s losses in this series\u2019 first two games. Its lineup went 3-for-19 with men in scoring position and stranded 22 runners while scoring four runs over those 20 innings.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s second inning continued the trend. A walk to LaMonte Wade Jr. and a single by Yainer Diaz put runners on first and third with no outs. The Astros did not score. Young struck out Lucas Spence, playing in his third major-league game, and Cam Smith and induced a ground out from Raynel Delgado.<\/p>\n

Back-to-back doubles by Altuve and Alvarez in the third inning produced Houston\u2019s first run. Paredes and Wade followed Alvarez\u2019s double with a pop-up and a fly out. Astros hitters took six at-bats with a runner in scoring position in the first three innings against Young, with Alvarez\u2019s the lone hit.<\/p>\n

They did not take another until the eighth. Rico Garcia replaced Young, who struck out seven batters and walked one. Altuve greeted Garcia with a home run into the Crawford Boxes. A single and throwing error put Paredes on second with one out. Wade struck out and Diaz grounded out.<\/p>\n

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Odd sequence<\/p>\n

After Gunnar Henderson struck an RBI single against Brown in the third inning, the first hit against him, the Orioles added a second run in a strange sequence.<\/p>\n

Dylan Beavers\u2019 one-out single sent Henderson to third. On a 3-0 pitch to Alonso, Beavers broke for second. Diaz, the catcher, threw him out. But the pitch was initially called ball four, negating the play.<\/p>\n

Diaz challenged the pitch call and got it overturned, extending Alonso\u2019s at-bat. Beavers, as a result, was out. Orioles manager Craig Albernaz emerged for a discussion with the umpires, appearing to point out that second base umpire Erich Bacchus had called Beavers safe after looking in for the pitch call. After a lengthy delay, the out call at second base stood and Alonso\u2019s at-bat resumed.<\/p>\n

Diaz challenged another called ball at 3-1, again extending the at-bat, before Brown missed inside on a slider for ball four. Two pitches later, Alonso broke for second base. Diaz, again, threw down to second, where\u00a0Delgado held a tag while Henderson broke from third base for the plate. Alonso was safe, and Henderson scored without a play at home, giving the Orioles a 2-0 lead.<\/p>\n

In relief<\/p>\n

Left-hander Bryan King replaced Brown in the fifth inning, a notable sight given King has been a leverage reliever all season. King has struggled of late<\/a>, allowing seven runs over his past three appearances before Sunday, and his entrance might have been an attempt to get him work in a lower-pressure spot.<\/p>\n

King stranded two runners inherited from Brown by getting left-handed Colton Cowser to ground out to end the fifth. Returning for the sixth, however, he allowed a leadoff home run to Coby Mayo. It was the fifth home run allowed by King in his last four outings. He allowed one in his first 38 appearances.<\/p>\n

Kai-Wei Teng made his first appearance since his return from the IL, working 2 \u2153 scoreless innings even while hitting two batters and walking one. Cristian Javier, relegated back to the bullpen in this series after his spot-start last Sunday in Texas, pitched the ninth in mop-up duty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hunter Brown struggled with his command as the Astros lost their fourth straight game and were swept in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-379038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}