ST. LOUIS -- When it comes to facing elite pitching, the Cardinals have had their way with some pretty big names so far in 2025. Their four previous wins have come in games started by top arms in Paul Skenes of the Pirates, Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler of the Phillies and Framber Valdez of the Astros.
Astros starter Hunter Brown wasn¡¯t about to be added to that list.
Brown continued his stellar start to the season and extended his scoreless streak to 17 innings by throwing six shutout frames, and Yordan Alvarez blasted his second homer of the season to lead the Astros to a 2-0 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.
¡°He gets on the mound and the team is expecting to win,¡± Astros manager Joe Espada said. ¡°He has embraced that role. Outstanding performance.¡±
Brown allowed four hits, including a pair of bloops, two walks and struck out four batters while throwing 97 pitches. He¡¯s thrown six innings in each of his first four starts in ¡¯25, including back-to-back scoreless starts to give him a 1.50 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP in 24 innings pitched.
¡°That¡¯s Big Diesel,¡± said Astros shortstop Jeremy Pe?a, who doubled and scored in the sixth. ¡°Hunter Brown, he¡¯s been great for us. He¡¯s figured some stuff out on the mound since last year and he¡¯s just rolling with it. He¡¯s going to be a force in this league. He¡¯s already a force for this team. It¡¯s always fun to play defense behind him.¡±
The Cardinals¡¯ lineup entered Tuesday leading the Major Leagues in batting average, on-base percentage and double-digit hit totals, but managed only two runners past second base against Brown. He retired the final eight batters he faced, striking out the side in the fifth inning.
¡°We¡¯ve seen some pretty good arms, but he was on his game,¡± Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. ¡°That sinker¡¯s for real with the movement on it. Just hearing the guys talk about how much his stuff was moving, he had a really good outing and we had a tough time stringing much together. But he did a nice job.¡±
Brown relied heavily on his sinker and four-seam fastball, which topped out at 99.1 mph. He got six whiffs on the 12 swings the Cardinals took on the 24 sinkers he threw to both sides of the plate. That was the pitch he added early last season that enabled him turn his career around.
¡°I feel like I¡¯ve made some good inning-to-inning adjustments so far,¡± Brown said. ¡°I thought, in my first two starts, my curveball was really good and the last two I haven¡¯t been as dialed in with it. Just kind of adjustments in between innings and starts to navigate different types of lineups.¡±
The thing that impressed Espada the most about Brown came in the fourth inning when Brendan Donovan led off with a bloop double that was only 73.6 mph off the bat. Earlier in the game, Nolan Arenado blooped a single that was only 61.3 mph, but neither seemed to throw Brown off his game.
¡°The way he reacted to [the Donovan] hit, he pounded the glove and he said, ¡®Give me the ball back, I¡¯m going to get back on the mound and get the next guy out,¡¯¡± Espada said. ¡°That maturity in him, those are little things I¡¯m always watching. He¡¯s got the stuff. He¡¯s got the heart, the conviction behind every pitch, but it¡¯s the little things he¡¯s not being bothered by -- things he can¡¯t control.¡±
Brown has thrown twice to both catchers -- Victor Caratini and Yainer Diaz, who caught Tuesday¡¯s game -- and credited them with game plans that worked. The way Brown is throwing to start the season, catching him is the best seat in the house.
¡°You can go in with Plan A but if you¡¯re not executing it on that day, you¡¯ve got to make an adjustment,¡± Brown said. ¡°They¡¯ve done a really good job helping navigate me through the first four outings and also helping do different things."