Brown Earns Win in Major League Debut; Houston Astros Sneak Past Texas Rangers

The Houston Astros shutout the Texas Rangers, behind a Hunter Brown quality start in his Major League Baseball debut.

Working to a Major League opportunity all season with Triple-A Sugar Land, Hunter Brown finally got his chance Monday, and the 24-year-old didn't disappoint. The Houston Astros starting pitcher worked six scoreless innings en route to a win in his debut.

Behind 79 pitches, Brown carved through five Texas Rangers, allowing just three hits and one walk. The righty threw his first Major League pitch at 97.4 mph for a strike while sneaking in the second-fastest slider (95.7 mph) in the sport two pitches later trailing only Jacob deGrom, according to MLB Metrics.

Brown also became the third Wayne State product to appear in Major League Baseball alongside former Astros pitcher Doug Konieczny and Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Anthony Bass. He also became just the third starting pitcher in franchise history to reach six or more innings in his debut with Carlos Hernandez (2001) and Jarred Cosart (2013) in company.

Bryan Abreu, Héctor Neris and Rafael Montero combined for three scoreless innings in relief. The three righties matched Brown's five strikeouts without allowing a base runner.

Houston Astros Left Fielder Trey Mancini / Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

The lone run of the contest crossed in the second inning. Martín Maldonado singled home Trey Mancini from second base while the Astros stranded six runners, five against Martín Pérez.

José Altuve was tagged out at home in the eighth inning in a play reviewed by the umpiring crew. Although close, there wasn't enough evidence to overrule the call, leaving Houston with a 1-0 lead before the ninth.

The Mauricio Dubón defensive switch came again Monday night. The utilityman took over in center field in the ninth inning, replacing Trey Mancini in the lineup, with Chas McCormick moving to left field. 

Monday's win moved the franchise record to .500 (4,812-4,812) for the first time since 2006. The Astros look break that tie and take the series from the Rangers starting at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday with Framber Valdez countering righty Glenn Otto.

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