With Brown's strong start, Astros get 1st win vs. Reds since ...

HOUSTON -- Leave it to Hunter Brown to end an Astros losing streak of almost nine years.

Brown continued his exceptional 2025 season on Friday night at Daikin Park, allowing two hits in 5 2/3 innings as the Astros beat the Reds, 3-0, Houston’s first victory over Cincinnati since June 19, 2016. The Reds were 9-0 against Houston since then, having swept three-game series in 2019, 2023 and 2024.

To put the span between Astros victories over the Reds in perspective, consider that the interim included Houston’s two World Series titles and four American League pennants. Or that in that span, Jose Altuve accumulated 1,347 hits, including Friday’s third-inning double, which gave him 700 extra-base hits for his career. (The three others to reach that mark in an Astros uniform were Craig Biggio (1,014), Jeff Bagwell (969) and Lance Berkman (727).

Brown (6-1) joined Max Fried, Casey Mize and Brandon Pfaadt atop the Major League leader board with six wins and lowered his ERA to 1.48.

A pivotal moment in Brown’s outing came with two outs in the third. He walked Matt McLain on a 3-2 sinker that looked every bit a strike, setting up Elly De La Cruz with men at first and second.

“I thought that was a really good pitch,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, I don’t make the calls on that. I would have rung him up. That’s how it goes. Then you’ve got to face a great player like De La Cruz, and you’ve got to bear down and get to work.”

After getting ahead 1-2 with three changeups and a four-seam fastball that De La Cruz fouled off to stay alive, Brown froze Cincinnati’s star shortstop with a knuckle curve to end the inning.

Brown also showed his resolve in the fifth. Santiago Espinal stole second base but likely would have been out if not for a mishandled throw. Brown walked TJ Friedl but escaped the inning by retiring McLain on a short fly to right.

“I think last year at the beginning of the year, those were the moments where things kind of snowballed on him, the game got a little bit quick, and then he lost his concentration and guys score or something like that,” said Astros manager Joe Espada, who has seen Brown blossom into a bona fide ace. “I think those days are past him.

“He’s growing and maturing. So he can stay calm and compete and still finish innings. I think that is the big game changer in Hunter where he knows, ‘I still can strike somebody out no matter where things stand. I’m gonna stay calm, and I’m gonna compete and finish the inning.’ That’s what is separating him from the rest of the starting pitchers in the league.”

Brown struck out nine and set a season high with four walks. The last walk, to Gavin Lux with two outs in the sixth, prompted Espada to lift Brown after 101 pitches, ending a season-long streak of quality starts at seven. Brown acknowledged he would have liked to finish the sixth, sounding like an ace.

“Ideally, I would have liked to finish the ninth,” he said. “But it just didn’t work out that way today.”

In the calendar year dating to May 9, 2024, Brown has gone 17-6 with a 2.21 ERA in 32 games (31 starts). Consider Reds manager Terry Francona impressed. The skipper was opposing Brown for the first time, having not seen him in 2022 or 2023, Francona’s last two seasons as Guardians manager.

“He kind of came as advertised,” said Francona, whose team was shut out for the sixth time this season. “We knew coming in he was one of the better young arms in the league, and he showed that early on. There was so much power to the fastball. Then he had the changeup that’s still probably 90-91, but it’s off the fastball. And the breaking ball really gave us a tough time.”

“This kid’s a competitor,” Espada said. “He knows what he means to this rotation, to this team, every time he steps on the mound. … He has that attitude you look for in an ace.

“As a manager, you want someone like that where you know you’re going to get ‘X’ amount of innings, ‘X’ amount of pitches, and he’s going to give you a chance. And he knows it. Our team knows it. Our bullpen knows it. It’s a great feeling.”