Brown (3-1) earned the win over Toronto on Monday, pitching seven scoreless innings during which he allowed two hits and one walk while striking out nine batters.
That's now five quality starts in five outings this season for Brown, who recorded perhaps his best start of 2025 so far Monday. Both the seven innings and nine punchouts were season-best marks for the right-hander, and he pitched his third straight scoreless outing while extending his scoreless innings streak to 24 frames. It's too early in the campaign to be prognosticating end-of-season awards, but Brown certainly has the look of a Cy Young contender considering his dominance so far. He ranks sixth among qualified pitchers with a 1.16 ERA and first with a 0.74 WHIP while registering a 31:6 K:BB through 31 innings.
Brown (2-1) got the win Tuesday against the Cardinals after giving up four hits and no walks in six scoreless innings. He struck out four.
The biggest threat to Brown's scoreless start came during the fourth inning, when the Cardinals got two runners into scoring position with two outs, but Nolan Gorman struck out on a foul tip to end the frame. Brown has been a reliable starter for the Astros and fantasy managers alike in the early going, recording four consecutive quality starts while producing a 1.50 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 22:5 K:BB through 24 innings. The right-hander next sets up to take on the Blue Jays at home early next week.
Brown didn't factor into the decision Wednesday against Seattle after allowing two hits and no walks in six scoreless innings, striking out three.
While both of Brown's hits allowed were doubles, he faced very little resistance from Seattle otherwise. In fact, none of the Mariners were even able to reach third base while Brown was on the hill. The 26-year-old right-hander is off to an excellent start in 2025, sporting a 2.00 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and 18:3 K:BB through 18 innings (three starts). Up next for Brown in his next scheduled appearance is a matchup in St. Louis, which is slated for early next week.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Grabs first win
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Brown (1-1) earned the win Thursday over the Twins, allowing two runs on five hits over six innings. He struck out eight.
The Twins got to Brown early Thursday, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning. However, the right-hander would settle in and follow up with five scoreless frames to turn in a second straight quality start. The 26-year-old Brown has allowed four earned runs while striking out 15 through his first 12 innings this year. Brown is currently lined up for a road matchup with the Mariners in his next outing.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Fans seven during loss
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Brown (0-1) was saddled with the loss Friday against the Mets, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks while striking out seven batters over six innings.
Brown got off to a great start by striking out Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto during the first two at-bats of the game. However, three consecutive hits from the Mets to begin the second frame put Houston in a 2-0 hole, and Soto's third-inning solo blast gave New York all the insurance it would need. Brown performed well enough to earn a quality start during his first appearance of the new campaign, but it's hard to take home a win when your offense only provides one run of support. He'll look for a better result next week when the Astros travel to Minnesota.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Works two innings in spring debut
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Brown allowed a hit and two walks across two scoreless innings in Friday's Grapefruit League game against St. Louis, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Brown was shaky to start the game, with all three of the baserunners he allowed coming in a 26-pitch first inning. However, he noted he felt better in his second frame and threw a perfect inning while hitting 98 mph with his fastball as measured by the stadium scoreboard.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Taking mound Wednesday
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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.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Strikes out eight in loss
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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.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Bounces back against Padres
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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.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Loses to Athletics
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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.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Third straight quality start
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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.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Strikes out six in no-decision
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Brown did not factor into the decision in Friday's 7-5 loss to the Orioles, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts over six innings.
Brown induced just seven whiffs on 107 pitches, but he left the game with a 5-2 lead before the Orioles exploded for five runs in the eighth inning. The 25-year-old has logged three quality starts in four August outings while yielding two earned runs or fewer in each. On the season, he owns a 3.72 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 151:52 K:BB across 140.1 innings and lines up to face the Royals at home next week.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Earns win Saturday
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Brown (11-7) allowed a run on four hits and two walks while striking out six over seven innings to earn the win Saturday over the White Sox.
This was Brown's longest start since June 14, and he threw 69 of 102 pitches for strikes to take advantage of a soft matchup. The lone blemish came on a first-inning RBI single by Gavin Sheets. Brown continues to walk a lot of batters -- he's issued 21 free passes over 60 innings across his last 10 starts, but he's added 63 strikeouts in that span. Overall, he has a 3.82 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 145:50 K:BB through 134.1 innings over 25 appearances (24 starts) this season. Brown is projected for a tougher road start in Baltimore next week.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Quality start in no-decision
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Brown did not factor into the decision in Monday's 4-3 loss to Texas, allowing one run on three hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out four.
The Houston right-hander earned his third quality start in four outings since the All-Star break with this 97-pitch performance. The only run he allowed came via a Leody Taveras sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. Since the break, Brown has been a reliable starter, pitching to a 2.28 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 25:8 K:BB across 23.2 innings. He looks to keep his string of solid performance rolling in his next appearance, currently scheduled to be in Boston this weekend.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Another strong outing
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Brown (9-6) earned the win Wednesday over the Athletics, allowing one run on eight hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out eight.
The lone run charged to Brown came in the first inning when the A's led off the game with back-to-back doubles. The right-hander would rebound to blank Oakland over his final five frames, earning a third straight win while logging his 11th quality start in his last 12 outings. After posting a 7.71 ERA through his first nine starts, Brown's pitched to a 2.09 ERA in his subsequent 12 appearances. Overall, his ERA sits at 4.00 with a 1.37 WHIP and 118:42 K:BB across 110.1 innings this season. Brown will look to keep rolling in his next outing, currently scheduled for early next week at home versus the Pirates.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Nabs seventh win
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Brown (7-6) picked up the win in Friday's 6-3 victory over the Rangers, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out five.
The right-hander rebounded from a rough outing in Minnesota on July 6 to deliver his 10th quality start of the year. Brown has lasted at least six innings in 10 straight trips to the mound, posting a 2.36 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 64:17 K:BB through 61 innings over that stretch as he puts his shaky first month of the campaign further behind him.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Third straight quality start
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Brown did not factor into the decision Sunday, allowing three runs on five hits and one walk over six innings against the Twins. He struck out seven.
Brown allowed two solo homers, one to lead off the game by Trevor Larnach and a blast in the sixth by Jose Miranda. Those two dingers sandwiched a second inning run-scoring double by Alex Kirilloff to represent the three tallies against Brown. The sixth-inning homer eliminated Brown's chance to pick up his second win, though he did collect his third straight quality start. While Brown's season ERA remains poor at 6.18, he's been much better over his last five starts, accumulating a 3.53 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 31 strikeouts over 28 innings. His next start is tentatively slated for next weekend when the Astros travel to Anaheim to take on the Angels in a three-game set.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Rejoining rotation this weekend
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Astros manager Joe Espada said that Brown will make a start during the team's three-game home series versus the Brewers this weekend, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
Espada didn't specify which day Brown will start, but Friday's series opener looks like the logical target for him to slot back into the rotation. Brown's spot in the rotation looked to be on thin ice after he supplied an 8.89 ERA and 2.20 WHIP over 27.1 innings in his first seven starts of the season, prompting the Astros to skip over his turn this past week. The right-hander was available out of the bullpen for the weekend series in Detroit and excelled in long relief behind Cristian Javier in Saturday's 8-2 loss to the Tigers, tossing five innings of one-run ball while tying his season high with seven strikeouts. Houston will move to a six-man rotation this week to accommodate Brown, but he may still need a strong showing against Milwaukee to ensure he sticks in a starting role moving forward, especially with Jose Urquidy's (forearm) return from the injured list on the horizon.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Could be available in relief
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Astros manager Joe Espada said Thursday that Brown could be available out of the bullpen for the next few days, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Brown last pitched Sunday and had been on turn for a start Saturday in Detroit, but Cristian Javier (neck) is returning that day and Justin Verlander will move ahead of Brown to pitch Sunday on regular rest. Brown seemingly would be set up to make a start Monday versus the Athletics if he doesn't pitch in relief before then, but it doesn't appear that has been decided yet. Espada hasn't ruled out the possibility of using a six-man rotation for a while, which would leave room for both Brown an Spencer Arrighetti to keep making starts.
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Astros' Hunter Brown: Limits damage against Mariners
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Brown didn't factor into the decision Sunday against Seattle, allowing two runs on five hits with four walks over 4.1 innings. He struck out five.
Despite tying his season high in walks, Brown allowed only a pair of runners to score and held the Mariners to just one extra-base hit. Brown has lasted less than five innings in five of his seven starts this season and owns an ugly 8.89 ERA through 27.1 innings. With Cristian Javier (neck) set to return in the next week or so, Brown's time in the rotation could be coming to a close. However, Houston could drop rookie Spencer Arrighetti instead. As it stands, Brown is tentatively scheduled for a start against the Tigers on Saturday.
