Inside the Astros

Brown Dominant As Astros Record Second Straight Shutout Over Rays

The Houston Astros shut out the Tampa Bay Rays in Wednesday’s game.

Andy Jasner

Brown Dominant As Astros Record Second Straight Shutout Over Rays
Brown Dominant As Astros Record Second Straight Shutout Over Rays /
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The Houston Astros showed again why they’re the defending World Series champions.

And not the Tampa Bay Rays.

Starter Hunter Brown and two relief pitchers combined to toss a two-hitter as the Astros (14-11) defeated the Rays, 1-0, on Wednesday. It was the second consecutive shutout victory over the ultra-talented Rays.

Brown threw seven innings, registered a career-best eight strikeouts and walked two in seven strong innings.

Hector Neris came in to pitch a scoreless eighth and Ryan Pressly picked up his second save as he retired the Rays in order in the ninth.

The Astros went 5-1 on a tough six-game road trip which began with a sweep of the Atlanta Braves.

Tampa Bay had been 14-0 at home before losing back-to-back games against the surging Astros.

Mauricio Dubon extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a single in the fifth. It’s the longest hitting streak by an Astros player since Hunter Pence went 23 in a row in 2011.

The Astros scored the lone run in the first and the pitching took over the rest of the way.

After an off day, the Astros will return home for a rematch against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

The Astros defeated the Phillies in a hard-fought six-game matchup in the World Series last year.

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Andy Jasner
ANDY JASNER

Andy Jasner is a freelance writer based in the Philadelphia area. Jasner graduated from Syracuse University in 1991 and has worked for newspapers, magazines and websites including CBS SportsLine and ESPN.com. Jasner has written two books -- Baltimore Ravens and Phil Jasner: On The Case. Follow him on Twitter at @AndyJasner.

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