HOUSTON — At 5 years old, Brandon Young attended his first game at the Astros’ Daikin Park (known as Minute Maid Park at the time). His family drove about 95 miles west from their hometown of Lumberton, Texas, to Houston, where his love for baseball burgeoned.
“I don’t really remember it. My mom was just telling me about it — [Lance] Berkman, [Craig] Biggio, [Jeff] Bagwell, Killer B’s,” Young said. “Sat down the right-field line all the time. I think tickets were like seven bucks back then.”
For anyone who paid any price to be at the ballpark Friday night — part of a crowd that included Young’s parents, other family members and plenty of friends — the 26-year-old rookie right-hander gave those fans their money’s worth, coming oh-so-close to baseball history.
Young came within four outs of authoring what would have been the 25th perfect game in AL/NL history, as he put on a show during the Orioles’ 7-0 win over the Astros. After retiring the first 23 Houston batters of the night, Young gave up a two-out infield single in the eighth to Ramón Urías — a former Oriole dealt to the Astros on July 31, the day of the Trade Deadline.
It still ended up being a memorable performance. Young completed eight dominant innings by striking out Taylor Trammell — the batter after Urías — to retire 24 of 25 batters faced during a magnificent 93-pitch outing. Young earned his first MLB win in his 11th career start — one much improved from the previous 10, as he entered the game with a 6.70 ERA.
“Special, right? You don’t get to say that very often,” third baseman Jordan Westburg said. “I’ve never played behind somebody who was taking a no-hit bid that long. Super cool.”
But it was hard for Young not to dwell on what could have been — and just how close he was.
Urías’ knock came on a slow dribbler hit to the left side of the mound, where Young hustled over and attempted to make a barehanded play while falling backward. But Young’s throw was errant — Urías had a single, and he moved to second on the error.
“I thought I could make the play,” Young said. “I got there in time. I think I had a little more time to maybe take a step and make a better throw. I obviously rushed it, yanked it. It sucks. Definitely want it back.”
Westburg saw it all unfold up close, as he initially thought he had a “real good shot” at the ball.
“I will say, it’s like it happened in slow motion,” Westburg said. “He’s an athlete, he bounced off the mound. … I could see the webbing on his fingers spread and go for the ball, and at that point, it’s out of my control. I’m going to pull up and I’m going to let him do his thing.
“I thought he had a real shot. It’s a shame, but it’s still a special night for him, and I don’t think he needs to dwell on that too much.”
That’s correct. Especially considering it was the most impressive start of Young’s professional career, which began after he went undrafted in the pandemic-shortened five-round 2020 MLB Draft and then signed a Minor League contract with Baltimore.
Young has shown his potential in spurts. He was the Orioles’ 2024 Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award winner. Earlier this year, he threw an immaculate inning during a July 8 outing vs. the Mets at Camden Yards, part of an encouraging 5 1/3-inning, two-run start.
Still, it was hard not to feel like Young’s perfecto bid came a bit out of nowhere. In his previous start last Saturday, he allowed six runs over three innings in a loss to the A’s.
“Dejected and also accountable is kind of what I got out of when he talked to [the media], the quotes that he had, after that last start, and that is one of the reasons why this guy’s going to get the best out of himself in his career,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “It’s one of the reasons why he’s going to maximize his ability, because he’s a young, accountable player.
“Not all players are that way. He is.”
Young put in hard work between these two starts. He focused on bettering the command of his four-seam fastball, which he threw 38 times in Houston and used to induce four of his nine whiffs. The Astros didn’t produce much hard contact against the pitch, with an average exit velocity (per Statcast) of 84 mph and a max of 99.5.
During his side work on Wednesday, Young began to tinker with a slider. He implemented the pitch on Friday, and he believes giving batters a “different look” was beneficial.
“Just depending on what we’re trying to do with a hitter, the cutter is a little bit more horizontal and the slider provides a little bit more depth,” catcher Adley Rutschman said. “Just giving a bigger speed differential, and I really liked how it looked in pregame today. So we kind of upped that usage.”
Houston couldn’t solve Young, as Urías faced a much different version of a pitcher he was playing behind only last month.
“He had a crazy performance today. He was great on the mound,” Urías said. “He was mixing really well. That’s the best that I’ve seen him.”
It’s the best anybody on the Orioles has seen him, even players like Westburg and shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who were teammates with Young coming up through the Minor Leagues.
When Young was told he wouldn’t be coming back out for the ninth, the rest of the O’s began shaking his hand and patting him on the back in the third-base dugout. They were appreciative to be part of a special — even if wasn’t perfect — game and one of the biggest bright spots in what has been a disappointing, difficult season for the Orioles (56-66).
“I know the competitor he is. I’ve played with him for years now, I’ve seen him throw a lot of great games,” Henderson said. “So I knew it was only a matter of time. That was unreal tonight.”
Young can remember throwing a perfect game of either five or six innings while playing travel ball when he was 15 or 16 — back when he was still going to Astros games as a fan in the seats. Those are all fond memories.
Friday will go down as better than all of them for the kid from Lumberton.
“One hundred percent, yeah,” Young said. “It was awesome. It was incredible.”
