Hunter Brown posted his fifth consecutive quality start and Mauricio Dubon capped a four-run, sixth-inning outburst with a two-run homer as the Houston Astros topped the visiting Detroit Tigers 4-0 on Friday.
Brown (3-5) recorded his second consecutive scoreless start, matching his season high of nine strikeouts. He was 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA over his previous four starts but elevated his performance a notch, working a season-best seven innings while allowing five hits and no walks.
Brown caught a break to open the third inning when Ryan Kreidler missed first base on his apparent leadoff double.
Kreidler was ruled out upon appeal. Brown followed by retiring six consecutive batters before Justyn-Henry Malloy singled with one out in the fifth, only to be erased attempting to steal second base. Brown surrendered two more singles but capped his 96-pitch outing with an emphatic strikeout of Malloy.
Brown thrived on a six-pitch mix, relying largely on 28 sinkers that averaged 95.6 mph.
Tigers ace Tarik Skubal (8-2) matched Brown through five innings before suddenly coming undone. The Astros recorded just one hit off Skubal entering the sixth, and that came when Jose Altuve led off the first with a double. Skubal stranded a pair in scoring position in the first and then found a groove, retiring 12 of 13 batters over the next four frames.
Houston found a spark when Altuve opened the sixth with his second double of the game. Alex Bregman delivered an RBI triple to right-center that extended his hitting streak to 15 games and broke the scoreless tie before Yordan Alvarez followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Bregman. Skubal induced a groundout from Jeremy Pena but couldn’t escape additional damage.
Dubon followed a two-out single from Yainer Diaz with his third home run, driving a first-pitch changeup into the left field seats. That 371-foot shot stretched the lead to four runs. Skubal, who had allowed two runs over his three previous starts combined, surrendered four runs on six hits and one walk with two strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings.
Astros relievers Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader completed the shutout by working one perfect inning apiece.
By taking the opener of a three-game series, Houston won for just the second time in five games. Detroit took its third defeat in four games.
–Field Level Media
