Brown will start Wednesday in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series against the Tigers, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.
The Astros fell to the Tigers, 3-1, in Game 1 on Tuesday and will send Brown to the bump for an elimination game. The 26-year-old allowed one run on three hits and a walk in his last start Sept. 23. The right-hander, who'll be on extended rest, will look to help preserve Houston's season.
Brown (11-9) allowed a run on three hits and three walks while striking out eight over six innings to take the loss versus the Mariners on Monday.
Brown has six quality starts over his last seven outings, and his eight strikeouts Monday are the most in any one start during that span. Despite his strong pitching over that stretch (2.11 ERA in 42.2 innings), he has a 1-2 record. Brown lowered his ERA for the year to 3.49 with a 1.27 WHIP and now has a career-high 179 strikeouts over 170 innings through 31 outings (30 starts). The right-hander is not projected to make another regular-season start since the Astros are currently using a six-man rotation and have just five games left on the schedule.
Brown did not factor into the decision Tuesday against the Padres, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out three over six innings.
Brown blanked the Padres up until the sixth inning when Manny Machado swatted a two-run homer to even the game up at 2-2. The long ball was the only extra-base hit allowed by Brown, who has now allowed a homer in back-to-back starts for the first time since July. Brown's three strikeouts were also his lowest since he had three back on May 22, but he's given the Astros five quality starts in his last six outings. He'll take a 3.57 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 171:57 K:BB in 164 innings into a start against the Mariners to begin next week.
Brown (11-8) allowed five runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out seven over five-plus innings to take the loss Wednesday versus the Athletics.
Brown had not allowed more than two runs in any of his previous six starts before this setback. The Athletics tagged him for two runs in the third inning and added three more in the sixth, with the last of those runs crossing the plate when Caleb Ferguson allowed an inherited runner to score. Brown is now at a 3.59 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 168:56 K:BB through a career-high 158 innings over 29 appearances (28 starts). His next start is projected to be at San Diego.
Brown did not factor into the decision Thursday against Cincinnati, allowing four hits and one walk over six scoreless innings. He struck out six.
Brown kept the Reds off the board over six innings Thursday and came away with his third straight no-decision in a quality start. After having an 8.89 ERA through seven starts this season, Brown was asked to pitch in relief and pitched well enough that he was given another chance in the rotation, and he hasn't looked back since. Including that relief outing May 11, Brown has a 2.25 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in his last 125.2 innings.
Astros' Hunter Brown: Third straight quality start
Rotowire
Brown did not factor into the decision in a win over the Royals on Thursday, allowing two unearned runs on two hits and two walks over 6.2 innings. He struck out four.
Brown was efficient, tossing 60 of 97 pitches for strikes and allowing just one man to reach second base through the first six innings. The right-hander then ran into some trouble in the seventh after a fielding error from Jeremy Pena. Brown was relieved by Bryan Abreu, who would let three runs come across for Kansas City. The outing marked Brown's third consecutive quality start and his fifth straight outing in which he's allowed two or fewer runs. He's issued exactly two walks in each of his last six starts but hasn't paid for it, posting a 2.21 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 37:12 K:BB in 36.2 innings over that stretch.
