Hunter Brown struck out eight batters over six innings, continuing his impressive form as one of baseball’s hottest pitchers. His performance guided the Houston Astros to an 8-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.
Chas McCormick hit his first home run in over a month, and Jose Altuve contributed with three hits and two RBIs as the Astros rebounded to win the final game of the series. This victory came after losing the first two games of what might be their last regular-season visit to the Coliseum.
“Just trying to maintain momentum,” Brown commented. “I focus on pitching well inning by inning and making quality pitches. When you put those things together consistently, good results follow.”
The game drew 14,978 fans, marking the third-largest crowd at the Coliseum this season.
Seth Brown had three hits for the A’s, who had won five of their last six games.
Hunter Brown (9-6) faced challenges throughout his outing but effectively minimized the damage, securing his eighth win in his last nine starts. Despite giving up consecutive doubles early in the game, the right-hander twice struck out the side and allowed eight hits with just one walk.
“He shut us down early when we had some momentum,” noted A’s manager Mark Kotsay. “He showed excellent command and didn’t give us many opportunities.”
During his impressive stretch, Brown has lowered his ERA from 6.18 to 4.00.
“Hunter Brown set the tone from the beginning,” praised Astros manager Joe Espada. “He pitched like an ace today, exactly what we needed.”
Bryan Abreu, Tayler Scott, and Bryan King each retired three batters to close out the game.
Oakland got off to a quick start with Lawrence Butler and Miguel Andujar hitting back-to-back doubles in the first inning. However, Andujar was later thrown out by Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña while trying to score on a ground ball.
