Houston Astros righthanded reliever Brandon Lyon came off the DL on June 9, but has not been very successful since his return; in three appearances covering two innings he’s allowed eight earned runs for a 36.00 ERA. He’s walked a pair and given up three home runs in that time.

The Houston Chronicle reports this morning that Lyon is still feeling pain when he pitches and may require surgery, which noted Dr. Lewis Yocum said, after seeing Lyon on Friday, would be “unusual”:

Yocum, the Los Angeles Angels’ medical director, echoed the opinion of Astros counterpart Dr. David Lintner — namely that Lyon’s biceps tendon is out of its groove and the condition likely will not improve through rest, rehabilitation or medication. That leaves season-ending surgery, but there’s an attention-getting complication to Lyon: The doctors could not cite one major league pitcher who has had such a procedure.

The 31-year-old Lyon himself admits that surgery may be necessary:

The problems, Lyon said, have persisted for about a year and a half. He has reached the point where he subconsciously does things lefthanded that he normally would have done righthanded to avoid pain.

In the meantime, Mark Melancon will remain the Astros closer for the rest of 2011.