After some uneven outings in his return from a shoulder injury, the Astros saw the version of Hunter Brown they expect against the White Sox as their win streak hit five games Saturday.
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JULY 25: Cam Smith #11 of the Houston Astros makes a catch in the bottom of the first inning of a game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on July 25, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Matt Dirksen/Getty Images)
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JULY 25: Jeremy Peña #3 and Yordan Alvarez #44 of the Houston Astros celebrate after scoring in the sixth inning of a game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on July 25, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Matt Dirksen/Getty Images)
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Houston Astros starter Hunter Brown delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Paul Beaty/AP Photo/Paul Beaty
Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pena reacts after striking out during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Paul Beaty/AP Photo/Paul Beaty
Houston Astros’ Cam Smith (11) reacts after striking out during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Paul Beaty/AP Photo/Paul Beaty
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JULY 25: Isaac Paredes #15 of the Houston Astros hits an RBI single in the sixth inning of a game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on July 25, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Matt Dirksen/Getty Images)
Matt Dirksen/Getty Images
Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez (44) celebrates with teammate Jeremy Pena (3) after scoring on a Isaac Paredes three-run single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Paul Beaty/AP Photo/Paul Beaty
Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes watches his three-run single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Paul Beaty/AP Photo/Paul Beaty
Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pena (3) celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring on a Isaac Paredes three-run single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Paul Beaty/AP Photo/Paul Beaty
Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes watches his RBI single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Paul Beaty/AP Photo/Paul Beaty
Houston Astros’ Cam Smith (11) celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring on a Isaac Paredes three-run single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Paul Beaty/AP Photo/Paul Beaty
Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pena (3) scores on a Isaac Paredes three-run single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Paul Beaty/AP Photo/Paul Beaty
Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pena (3) celebrates with teammate Cam Smith (11) after scoring on a Isaac Paredes three-run single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Paul Beaty/AP Photo/Paul Beaty
Houston Astros’ Cam Smith (11) scores on a Isaac Paredes three-run single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Paul Beaty/AP Photo/Paul Beaty
CHICAGO — A hint arrived on the 10th pitch of a vintage performance. Breaking off curveballs built a two-strike count on Munetaka Murakami, the biggest threat for a surprising White Sox lineup. Hunter Brown reached back for a four-seam fastball.
It blew in at 98.4 mph, the right-hander’s fastest pitch to that point in an injury-shortened season, along the outer corner. Paralyzed, Murakami could not start his swing on time or check it. Power and precision met to send him back to his dugout.
Personifying the blend earned Brown his “Diesel” moniker and mantle as Houston Astros ace. A starting rotation with the third-highest ERA in the majors and its makeup in flux needs that version of him badly. His first three starts of a pivotal July did not display it.
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Saturday, in a 4-1 Astros win over Chicago, it reappeared. Brown bulled his way through seven scoreless innings. He challenged hitters in the zone, wielded an extra tick of velocity and induced a slew of whiffs. He gave his lineup time to build a lead, then guarded it.
“That’s Hunter Brown right there,” manager Joe Espada said. “That is Hunter Brown.”
It is the version Houston all but has to receive to contend over the next two months. No trade deadline acquisition the Astros appear poised to make promises the kind of impact that last year’s third-place AL Cy Young finisher can have on their beleaguered rotation.
In his first six starts back from a shoulder strain, Brown posted a 5.22 ERA, battling shaky command and feel for his four-seamer. Walk numbers were atypical and kept Brown from working deep into games. In three of those outings, he did not finish five innings.
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“I hold myself to a standard to be the best version of myself that I can be for this team,” Brown said Saturday night. “And I thought, quite frankly, I was underperforming that. It wasn’t due to lack of preparation or mentality or anything like that, it was just simply not executing at the level that I know that I can.”
Timing added to the urgency for Brown to rediscover it. His last outing before Saturday occurred in a loss to Baltimore that left the Astros seven games under .500 two weeks before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
They have since won five games in a row, matching their longest streak of the season. Behind Brown, the Astros ended the night Saturday in second place in the AL West, two games back of the Rangers.
“I just think it’s just time,” Espada said. “I know mechanically he’s been working on a few things, but I think you’ve just got to give him some time. He knows his craft very well. He’ll figure it out. … He sees the calendar, he knows where we’re at. And he’ll show up.”
Brown said his work has focused on timing in his delivery. Missing high with his four-seamer told him he needed to “get a little bit more on top of the ball” and make sure to “drive the four through the zone.”
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“I feel like my stuff has increasingly gotten better over the last couple weeks,” Brown said. “Even (facing) Baltimore, I felt good about my curveball and the way that my fastball was working, I just simply lost too many hitters. So I knew I was kind of trending in the right direction and I knew I wasn’t too far away.”
BATTERS
AVG
OBA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
E
Team Totals
.242
.316
3560
486
862
158
8
143
464
347
862
37
14
44
Alvarez
.325
.431
379
72
123
20
0
34
77
68
78
1
0
2
Peña
.315
.371
222
45
70
9
0
9
28
17
40
8
1
5
Correa
.279
.369
122
22
34
8
0
3
16
18
26
1
0
1
Delgado
.273
.314
33
3
9
1
0
1
4
2
5
0
0
2
Paredes
.263
.356
361
43
95
18
1
14
57
40
63
0
0
6
Shewmake
.256
.272
78
10
20
4
0
3
9
2
13
0
0
2
Allen
.242
.288
95
14
23
3
0
1
11
6
23
2
0
2
Altuve
.235
.301
315
48
74
14
1
12
30
29
74
2
2
3
Walker
.232
.307
380
51
88
20
1
20
61
34
101
0
0
0
Diaz
.232
.262
185
20
43
9
0
6
23
7
31
0
1
2
Dezenzo
.231
.306
65
11
15
4
0
1
3
7
27
1
0
1
Trammell
.230
.293
122
15
28
5
1
3
12
9
45
3
1
1
Harris
.226
.286
31
4
7
0
1
0
4
2
6
2
0
0
Loperfido
.216
.314
102
13
22
7
1
1
12
14
31
1
1
1
Vázquez
.215
.269
186
18
40
7
0
5
23
14
37
1
0
0
Smith
.208
.285
341
41
71
13
1
13
36
33
92
10
1
4
Meyers
.206
.264
136
14
28
6
0
3
11
10
30
1
2
0
Matthews
.197
.250
208
23
41
5
1
7
22
15
71
4
4
1
Wade
.189
.317
53
9
10
2
0
2
10
10
14
0
0
0
Spence
.179
.258
28
2
5
1
0
0
1
2
11
0
1
1
Price
.167
.231
12
1
2
1
0
0
0
1
6
0
0
1
Cole
.157
.189
51
4
8
1
0
3
8
1
21
0
0
1
Johnson
.143
.294
14
1
2
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
Whitcomb
.130
.167
23
2
3
0
0
2
5
1
11
0
0
0
Salazar
.056
.227
18
0
1
0
0
0
1
3
3
0
0
0
___
PITCHERS
W
L
ERA
G
GS
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
Team Totals
52
54
4.67
106
106
31
939.1
842
524
487
142
458
933
Ullola
0
0
0.00
2
0
0
4
2
0
0
0
0
7
Meyers
0
0
0.00
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Santa
0
1
1.17
10
0
0
15.1
8
6
2
1
6
9
Hader
3
1
1.35
22
0
12
20
10
3
3
1
8
33
VanWey
1
0
1.50
5
0
0
6
5
2
1
0
0
5
Okert
3
1
2.09
51
1
0
51.2
31
13
12
5
12
52
Lambert
8
5
3.03
17
17
0
98
72
33
33
11
38
94
King
2
3
3.40
42
0
6
45
43
19
17
6
16
35
Brown
2
1
3.45
9
9
0
47
32
20
18
5
28
50
Pearson
1
0
3.60
16
0
1
20
16
10
8
1
12
16
Blubaugh
4
2
3.74
39
0
0
65
51
28
27
8
32
68
De Los Santos
1
3
4.12
45
0
5
48
44
25
22
5
12
46
Teng
5
6
4.35
25
10
0
68.1
62
37
33
10
30
67
Sousa
0
0
4.50
8
0
0
6
6
4
3
0
5
6
Arrighetti
7
5
4.60
17
17
0
88
68
47
45
12
50
87
Abreu
2
3
5.05
39
0
6
35.2
29
22
20
7
28
46
Roa
0
1
5.19
7
0
0
8.2
10
5
5
1
7
6
Bolton
0
1
5.40
8
3
1
20
21
12
12
3
14
22
Imai
6
4
5.59
14
14
0
58
49
36
36
9
36
71
Burrows
4
9
5.99
18
17
0
94.2
112
69
63
21
35
75
McCullers
2
3
6.86
8
8
0
39.1
38
32
30
7
22
43
Murray
0
0
7.43
8
0
0
13.1
19
11
11
1
7
8
Weiss
0
3
7.62
9
2
0
26
35
24
22
8
20
30
Blanco
0
0
7.71
1
1
0
4.2
2
4
4
2
3
8
France
0
0
8.10
3
0
0
6.2
6
6
6
1
5
4
Salazar
0
0
9.00
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
Alexander
1
1
9.33
4
2
0
18.1
21
19
19
4
8
14
Javier
0
1
9.37
7
4
0
16.1
21
17
17
3
15
14
Gordon
0
0
11.57
4
1
0
9.1
21
12
12
6
3
11
Muñoz
0
0
15.75
3
0
0
4
7
7
7
3
6
6
Results with the fastball Saturday suggested a breakthrough. Brown averaged 96.9 mph on the pitch, up from 95.9 mph previously this season. He finished four of seven strikeouts with it. He also generated six whiffs on 12 swings against his sinker, touching 98.6 mph and throwing 15 to left-handed hitters.
After issuing 15 walks over his previous three starts — including a career-high six walks against Baltimore — Brown did not walk a batter Saturday. He threw 67% strikes, boosted by his generating 20 whiffs on 47 swings, tied for second-most by an Astros starter this year. Five came on 10 swings against his curveball.
“He looked pissed, too,” Espada said. “I thought he came out there and he was pissed. … He was tired of the performances. He wanted to show up today and give us an opportunity to win a series.”
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On a night Houston needed depth from its starter, after its bullpen worked eight innings Friday, Brown was dominant. He allowed two hits, both singles. No White Sox runner reached second base against him. Brown retired his final 12 batters in a row, just two of whom hit a ball out of the infield.
“That’s the pitcher who he really is,” third baseman Isaac Paredes said, through an interpreter. “And he looked very nasty today.”
Brown finished the seventh inning at 90 pitches. Espada said he considered sending Brown back for the eighth but decided that was enough. Brown sustained his velocity, touching 98.6 mph in his sixth inning and 97.5 in the seventh. He departed with a four-run lead that three relievers preserved.
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It is a formula that could lend stability to a rotation that is still fluid. Brown, who had never been on the injured list before a shoulder strain that cost him 2 ½ months in the first half, was always meant to front it. Saturday offered the clearest reminder since his return of why.
“As you play not how you’d want to, you’re going to want to play better,” Brown said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say I came out tonight like, ‘I absolutely want to do so much better than I do on any other given night.’ But it was good to help contribute to the team.”