Hunter Brown shines in Astros’ shutout loss to Reds

CINCINNATI — Little things added up to one big headache for the Astros on Thursday as they were handed yet another head-scratching loss by their former nemesis from the National League Central.

Ty France unloaded for a solo homer — his 12th — off reliever Bryan Abreu to open the seventh inning, and reliever Tony Santillan got out of a first-and-third, one-out jam in the seventh to earn the win as the Astros fell in a pitchers’ duel, 1-0, before 16,126 at Great American Ball Park.

The Astros had no answers this week for France, who finished the series 9-for-11.

But in turning the mirror on themselves, they know one run shouldn’t beat them, especially when one of their best starting pitchers holds the opposition scoreless over six innings.

Hunter Brown was again in dominant form, allowing four hits and striking out six over six scoreless innings. It was Brown’s sixth straight outing allowing two runs or fewer and the team-leading 17th quality start for the 26-year-old right-hander.

“I think he’s a guy that has kind of embraced the big games like today,” manager Joe Espada said before Brown’s 27th start. “This is a big game.”

And Brown pitched with the determination of a starter who wants to be a stopper on a team already with names like Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez. Afterward, Espada said Brown pitched to the big moment.

“Hunter Brown gave us the start that we needed,” Espada said. “He gave us a strong six innings. He was really, really good. We just couldn’t get a big hit today.”

Despite Brown’s heroics, the Astros somehow were swept for a third straight series by the Reds, giving Cincinnati nine consecutive wins over Houston dating to 2019.

“He’s a stud, probably since the end of May and June,” Alex Bregman said of Brown. “He’s probably been the best pitcher in baseball, or one of the top three. So it’s been fun to play defense behind him and watch him grow. He’s one of the elite starting arms in the game now.”

Early on, Thursday’s matinee was a classic pitchers’ duel, with Brown holding his own against Rhett Lowder — Cincinnati’s No. 2 prospect, per MLB Pipeline.

The Astros could not take advantage of Lowder’s early struggles with command, as the rookie — making his second big league start — walked three and allowed a pair of hits in the first five innings.

The frustration of not scoring, and not being able to solve Cincinnati in general, got to Espada. The Houston skipper was tossed by home plate umpire Brian O’Nora following a called third strike on Bregman for the second out of the fourth. It was Espada’s fourth ejection of his rookie year in charge of the Astros.

The actual spark to the disagreement came prior to the called third strike from Lowder. The rookie threw a 1-1 changeup that ran inside and replays seemed to show glanced off Bregman’s right arm.

The call on the field was a foul ball. Replays suggested the ball never hit the bat, and first-base umpire Brennan Miller ruled no swing. The call on the field stood as a foul ball since O’Nora ruled it foul on the field.

“Since they called foul ball on the field, even though they knew it hit something, they just couldn’t change it and the call stood,” Bregman said afterward. “They couldn’t turn it to hit by pitch. That’s the explanation I got.”

The explanation provided no comfort when Bregman struck out looking.

Would it have mattered? Jon Singleton walked and Jeremy Peña singled before Ben Gamel grounded out to end the inning.

“We didn’t do anything offensively today,” said Bregman, playing in his second game back from right elbow soreness. “We didn’t put anything together. So it’s not what won or lost the game by any means. We just didn’t do anything offensively.”

The frustration only grew in the seventh when the Astros finally knocked the impressive Lowder out of the game on a one-out walk by Gamel and a single from Chas McCormick. Pinch-hitter Victor Caratini grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play against Santillan.

That was made all the more painful in the bottom of the inning, when France unloaded on an 0-1 fastball from Abreu and deposited the 96.4 mph four-seamer into the seats in left-center for a 1-0 Cincinnati lead.

“It’s a tough series for us, obviously,” Brown said. “It didn’t go the way we wanted it to. So come back [Friday] and play some good baseball.”