DETROIT -- With a tantalizing pitching matchup of young aces like Hunter Brown of the Astros and Tarik Skubal of the Tigers, it’s not surprising runs were hard to come by Tuesday night. For Houston, it’s becoming all too commonplace.
The Astros extended one of the most futile offensive streaks in club history by getting shut out for the third game in a row and for the fourth time in a five-game span. The Tigers used a walk-off walk thrown by reliever Kaleb Ort in the 10th inning to win, 1-0, at Comerica Park and run Houston’s scoreless streak to 28 innings.
“I think we’re just going through a little stretch [that] every team goes through,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “We’re a really good team. This team is going to hit.”
The Astros, who lost 12-0 to the Orioles on Sunday in Houston and 10-0 to the Tigers in Monday’s series opener in Detroit, have been shut out four times in a five-game span for the first time since being blanked in four straight games at Dodger Stadium, Sept. 9-11, 1966. The 28 consecutive scoreless innings is the team’s longest streak since 31 innings in 1991.
The Astros are hitting .160 in the past three games with two extra-base hits, five walks and 35 strikeouts. Not being able to score in seven innings against Skubal is no crime, but two Tigers relievers held Houston scoreless in the final three innings.
“I think you can drive yourself crazy looking for one thing or one reason to blame it on,” first baseman Christian Walker said. “I think collectively, we need to be better, whether it’s reading the game or reading the situation and knowing when to be aggressive.
“Maybe we find a way to change up or approach or maybe find a way to approach these starters a little definitely. We’ve been facing some good arms, too. Let’s not give any of these other guys credit. We’re a good offense, but sometimes the other team does their job, too.”
Skubal, the favorite to repeat as the American League Cy Young winner in 2025, held the Astros to three hits and two walks in seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 batters to reach 200 K's for the season.
“I thought that we had some good at-bats, we hit some balls hard,” Espada said. “I thought we competed and we put the barrel on the ball and we couldn’t do enough.”
Walker led off the second with a 417-foot fly ball to center field that Wenceel Pérez caught at the wall, perhaps robbing a home run. The Astros’ best chance to score came in the fourth when Yainer Diaz was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on a double by Ramón Urías. The Astros challenged the out call at the plate, but it was confirmed after replay.
“When they said, ‘Confirmed,’ it meant they probably saw something we didn’t see,” Espada said. “They had enough evidence to stick with their call, so I’m going to go right now and look at it and see if we missed something. It looked like he missed the tag, like the hand got in there before the tag.”
Brown, pitching in his hometown, threw six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out six batters. He lowered his ERA to 2.36 to pass Boston’s Garrett Crochet (2.43), now trailing only Skubal (2.32) for the best ERA in the Majors. Brown has a 1.44 ERA in 25 innings in August.
“I don’t even think he was at his best, watching it from my side,” Skubal said. “I’ve seen him much better, and I think that’s a compliment to who he is. To go get six zeroes without your best stuff, I think that’s what separates good pitchers to great pitchers like he is. He competed really well, and I think that’s what the good ones in this game do.”
Brown, who threw 101 pitches, said he struggled with the humidity in the first couple of innings and had to change into a dry jersey after each inning. He allowed a leadoff triple to Zach McKinstry in the fifth but escaped without allowing a run.
“Coming in, you hope runs are at a premium for them and hopefully we score a lot, but [we] hit a robbed homer and a close play at the plate,’ Brown said. “Just didn’t go our way tonight.”