Hunter Brown has 7th straight quality start vs. Rockies

HOUSTON — There’s no player that embodies the Astros’ dramatic turnaround more than right-hander Hunter Brown, who overcame a woeful April and has pitched like an ace for nearly two months. The resurgence came just in time for an Astros rotation that has seen three more starting pitchers land on the injured list with arm ailments in the past month.

Brown delivered his seventh consecutive quality start by allowing two singles in six scoreless innings and making a five-run outburst in the first inning stand up to send the Astros to their sixth win in a row, a 5-2 decision over the Rockies on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park.

“I’m not surprised by it because we all knew his stuff is there,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He just looks different on the mound — mound presence, there’s conviction behind everything he’s doing. There’s this level of confidence. You put that together with the stuff he has, he’s just really good and we needed him to step up.”

The win got the hard-charging Astros (39-40) to within one game of reaching .500, which they can do in Wednesday’s series finale against Colorado. What’s more, the Astros are only 4 1/2 games out of first place in the American League West, having trimmed 5 1/2 games off the Mariners’ lead in a week.

“Tomorrow’s a huge game for us,” said Astros right fielder Chas McCormick, who had a two-run single to cap the first-inning scoring. “We’ve got to come out ready to go. It’s a 1 o’clock game and the Rockies are a good team. We have to make sure we don’t come out flat.”

Brown was 0-4 with a 9.78 ERA in his first six starts of the season, mirroring the struggles of an Astros team that was 7-19 out of the gate. He’s gone 5-1 with a 2.20 ERA and 1.03 WHIP since May 5, when he added a sinker to his arsenal, and he’s posted a 1.47 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in his last seven starts, including four consecutive winning decisions. His season ERA is 4.37 in 80 1/3 innings.

“He looks nasty out there,” McCormick said. “I’m happy for him. He works his butt off, and it seems like ever since he got his sinker he’s been doing a great job. That’s hard to hit, when you’re throwing your sinker in and then his cutter away. He’s been really special for us.”

On Tuesday, Brown registered a season-high 20 whiffs, 12 of which came on a four-seam fastball that averaged 97.1 mph — his fastest of the season — and touched 98.9 mph. He threw 39 four-seamers during his 94-pitch outing.

“Good arm,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He pitched with the fastball a lot tonight. He beat us with both his four-seamer and his sinker. He jammed the righties a lot tonight with his two-seam fastball. Got in on our hands, but for me, it was the fastball tonight for Brown.”

Brown said attacking with the fastball puts him in position to use his breaking ball more. It also helps when his velocity is trending upwards. His four-seamer was up 1.6 mph and his sinker was up 0.7 mph. His sinker averaged 96.1 mph, which is tied for his fastest in a game this year.

“I think just earlier in the year, I felt like I was kind of boxed up in what I could do with my arsenal. And maybe adding a sinker or landing my breaking balls at a higher clip or using the changeup, or just overall execution of the four-seam, has led to good results, which is always a good thing,” he said. “This league is tough and we’ve just got to keep it rolling and keep putting the work in in between outings, and hopefully it stays the course.”

The Astros sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning against Rockies starter Austin Gomber and scored five runs, with five of the first six hitters reaching via singles. Gomber got in a groove and retired 13 in a row following Jose Altuve’s leadoff single in the second, but the Rockies weren’t touching Brown on this day.

“The ball was coming out hot,” Espada said. “He looks really, really good. Coming down the hill, everything is connected and he’s finishing out in front — the sinker, the four-seam. We all know he has the stuff to do it, and he’s getting it done.”