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Even when Houston right-hander Hunter Brown hasn’t been that sharp, he finds a way to display his dominance.

However, Brown hopes to be better than his only previous outing against Cleveland while trying to become the first major league pitcher to nine wins on Saturday afternoon when the surging Astros aim for a second straight win over the host Guardians.

In his third full major league season, Brown (8-3, 1.83 ERA) ranks among the MLB leaders in wins, ERA and opponents’ batting average (.185), making a strong case for his first All-Star Game nod. He has 10 quality starts in 12 outings and has yielded only one run over 12 innings in his last two starts.

“Feels like every time he steps on the mound, he gives us a chance to win ballgames,” teammate Jeremy Pena told the Houston Chronicle.

On Sunday against Tampa Bay, Brown overcame matching a season high with four walks by giving up just one hit in six innings of a 1-0 Houston victory at home.

“I had to navigate some traffic,” said Brown, who has five scoreless starts this season. “Just a couple of leadoff walks and walking the nine-hole hitter twice is not how you draw it up, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes.”

Brown’s game plan certainly wasn’t to allow six runs and five hits, including two homers, during 5 1/3 innings on April 23, 2024, against the Guardians.

Cleveland’s Steven Kwan went 2-for-2 versus Brown in that contest, which the Astros won 10-9, but fellow Cleveland star Jose Ramirez was 0-for-3 against him. Ramirez, though, is batting .389 during a 32-game on-base streak that ties his career best.

However, Ramirez and teammate Angel Martinez both were thrown out in the first inning Friday by left fielder Mauricio Dubon while trying to stretch a single into the double. That essentially set the tone for the Guardians in their 4-2 series-opening loss.

While Cleveland has dropped seven of its past 11 games, Houston has won nine of 12. Pena recorded his second straight three-hit contest Friday and is batting .449 during a 12-game hitting streak.

Pena has doubled and walked twice in three career at-bats against Saturday’s scheduled Cleveland starter, Gavin Williams (5-3, 3.79 ERA), who is 3-1 with a 2.30 ERA in his past five starts.

On Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels, the right-hander allowed two unearned runs, two walks and a hit, while striking out six, in matching a season high with 6 2/3 innings in a 4-2 victory.

“I think that’s the best I’ve ever seen Gavin look,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “I thought he was more efficient (Sunday). … Obviously, seven innings, solid for anybody.”

Williams’ only previous appearance versus Houston came in 2023, when he yielded two runs, four hits, four walks and struck out six over five innings of Cleveland’s 2-0 loss.

Houston’s Jose Altuve is 1-for-3 lifetime against Williams. With two hits, including a run-scoring single, on Friday, Altuve is batting .364 with 10 RBIs in his past 14 games overall.

With a victory Saturday, the Astros would post back-to-back winning road series — after taking two of three games against Pittsburgh this week — for the first time this season.

–Field Level Media