WASHINGTON NATIONALS NOTES:
No team release available.
HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Astros will open a nine-game homestand with the first of three against the visiting Washington Nationals tonight…rookie RHP Hunter Brown will open the homestand for Houston in what will be his first career regular season start opposite the Nationals…he’ll be opposed by veteran LHP Patrick Corbin, who’s the only remaining member of the 2019 World Series champs still on the Nationals active roster.
VS. THE NATIONALS: The Astros and Nationals will forever be connected with each other after a bizarre 2019 World Series matchup that featured road wins in all seven contests, with the Nationals topping the Astros in the finale…while most of the 2019 squads have turned over for both teams, the teams remain very familiar with each other due to sharing a Spring Training facility in West Palm Beach, FL…the two clubs matched up six times in Spring Training this season, splitting the contests at three games apiece.
STAR WARS NIGHT: Tonight is Star Wars Night presented by Topps, at the ballpark, featuring tons of entertainment for the entire family, including fun photo opportunities and an Astros Star Wars Bobblehead package…for $40, fans can purchase a special Jedi Triple Bobblehead featuring 2B Jose Altuve, 3B Alex Bregman and SS Jeremy Peña…fans must have a valid game ticket tonight to purchase the add-on package…for more information and to purchase, visit Astros.com/StarWars.
AT THE HELM: Astros skipper Dusty Baker, who’s in his 26th season as a manager and his fourth in Houston, surpassed Hall of Famer Joe McCarthy for eighth place on MLB’s all-time managerial wins list last homestand…now with 2,130 wins, Baker’s next target is Hall of Famer Bucky Harris, who ranks seventh all-time in managerial wins with 2,158.
GRINDERS: On Sunday, the Astros completed a streak of playing games on 17 consecutive days, with Houston going 9-8 in those contests…prior to this streak, the most days the Astros had played in a row was seven, a streak that opened the season from March 30-April 5…tonight’s game opens a streak of nine consecutive days with a game.
SUNDAY IN CLEVELAND: The Astros were shut out by the Guardians in Cleveland on Sunday by a score of 5-0…RHP Shane Bieber (7IP) stymied the Astros offense, limiting them to just three hits and a walk in his start…on the day, the Astros had four hits, including an infield single by SS Grae Kessinger, the first hit of his MLB career…RHP Brandon Bielak (5ER/5IP) was handed the loss in the start.
THIEVERY: The Astros recorded a season-high six stolen bases on Saturday against the Guardians (Mauricio Dubón 2x, Corey Julks 2x, Jose Altuve 1x, and Jake Meyers 1x)…it marked their most stolen bases in a single game since Aug. 5, 2013 at BOS, when they also stole six bases.
PITCHING IN: The Astros have the lowest team ERA (3.32) and have allowed the fewest runs (243) in the Majors…the Astros starters rank third in Majors in ERA (3.41), while their bullpen also check in at third in the Majors in ERA (3.16).
Lowest Team ERA – MLB Runs Allowed – MLB
- Houston: 3.32 1. Houston: 243
- Minnesota: 3.52 2. Minnesota: 248
- Tampa Bay: 3.58 T3. San Diego/Tampa Bay: 255
ROOKIE RESPECT: According to WAR produced by STATS, tonight’s starter RHP Hunter Brown has been one of the most valuable rookies in the AL this season with a 1.7 WAR…he ranks third among rookies in that category, trailing only 1B Ryan Noda (2.0) and 3B Josh Jung (1.9)…the Astros have had a top five finisher in AL Rookie of the Year voting in four straight seasons: SS Jeremy Peña (5th in 2022), RHP Luis Garcia (2nd in 2021), RHP Cristian Javier (3rd in 2020) and LF Yordan Alvarez (1st in 2019).
HOME-GROWN STARTERS: The Astros current rotation all came from the Astros farm system (LHP Framber Valdez, RHP Cristian Javier, RHP Hunter Brown, RHP J.P. France, RHP Brandon Bielak)…additionally, the Astros also have three starters on the IL, with all three of them also coming from the farm system (RHP Luis Garcia, RHP Lance McCullers Jr., RHP José Urquidy).
MATON’S MONDAY: On yesterday’s off day, RHP Phil Maton and his wife, Katelynn, joined The Astros Foundation for a special Maton Mondays event at the Sunshine Kids…the Matons joined Sunshine Kids and presented each child with an Astros gift bag as well as Team Store gift card to go shopping on their next visit to Minute Maid Park…Maton Mondays is a new community initiative in which the Matons host children battling illness and treat them to a shopping spree at the Astros Team Store.
ON THE LEADERBOARD: 3B Alex Bregman ranks fourth in the AL in walk/strikeout ratio (0.95), tied for fourth in walks (35) and seventh in PA/SO (7.81)…UT Mauricio Dubón, who entered the season as a bench player, ranks seventh in the AL in batting average (.300)…the Astros are also without a huge piece of their lineup in OF Yordan Alvarez, who leads the Majors with 55 RBI, while ranking second in the AL in OPS (.978), third in SLG (.589) and third in homers (17).
TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP HUNTER BROWN
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023: 5-3 3.69 12 12 68.1 60 32 28 23 79
CAREER: 7-3 3.05 19 14 88.2 75 34 30 30 101
LAST START – 6/6 AT TOR: allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks with 5 strikeouts in 6.0 innings…recorded his sixth quality start of the season…suffered the loss after receiving one run of support…has lost two consecutive starts for the first time in his young career.
STRIKEOUT KING: prior to his last start, recorded 8+ K’s in 4 consecutive starts…the last Astros rookie to strike out 8+ batters in 4 consecutive starts was RHP Roy Oswalt, who did so in 6 straight games from Aug. 14-Sept. 9 in 2001…Brown owns 1 of 30 all-time streaks from Astros pitchers of 4+ starts with 8+ strikeouts, with LHP Framber Valdez the last to do so at 4 games from Aug. 4-Sept. 12 in 2022.
LEAGUE LEADERBOARD: among MLB rookies, he ranks T-1st in strikeouts (79), 1st in innings (68.1 IP), 1st in ERA (3.69) and 2nd in wins (6).
DIESEL: is averaging 91.9 mph with his slider, which is the hardest slider among all MLB pitchers, ahead of MIA RHP Sandy Alcantara (89.33 mph) and NYY RHP Gerrit Cole (89.2 mph).
HISTORIC START: his 3.05 career ERA is the 4th-lowest by an Astros through their first 19 career appearances behind RHP Luis Garcia (2.83), RHP Bo McLaughlin (2.99) and RHP Dan Larson (3.02).
- his 101 career strikeouts are the 3rd-most by an Astros pitcher through their first 19 career appearances, trailing RHP Tom Griffin (129 SO, 116.2 IP) and RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (107 SO, 107.2 IP).
- started his career 5-0 through his first 12 games (7 starts)…per Elias, was 1st Astros pitcher to win their first 5 decisions since RHP Josh James won his first 7 decisions from 2018-19.
AMONG THE BEST: According to WAR produced by STATS, Brown has been one of the most valuable rookie in the AL this season with a 1.7 WAR…he is behind only OAK IF Ryan Noda (2.0) and TEX IF Josh Jung (1.9) in that category…the Astros have had a top five finisher in AL Rookie of the Year voting in four straight seasons: SS Jeremy Peña (5th in 2022), RHP Luis Garcia (2nd in 2021), RHP Cristian Javier (3rd in 2020) and LF Yordan Alvarez (1st in 2019).
SOLID STREAK: made back-to-back starts on April 9 and April 15 in which he recorded at least 7.0 IP without allowing an ER…the last Astros pitcher to do so was LHP Scott Kazmir, who made 2 such starts in a row in 2015 (July 24-July 30, 2015).
