OAKLAND -- As the Astros embark on a stretch of 17 games in 17 days, they'll need all hands on deck to step up and keep the energy high with no time off.
Hunter Brown did just that as Houston opened a three-game series in Oakland on Friday, setting the tone by punching out 10 A's batters en route to a 5-2 Astros win. He matched the longest outing of his career by tossing seven strong innings and recorded his first double-digit strikeout game in the big leagues.
Personal accomplishments aside, Brown was more satisfied with helping his team right the ship after a tough series in Milwaukee, which ended with back-to-back shutout losses.
"I just like the 'W' in the win column, honestly," Brown said. "Punch out zero but you throw nine [innings] -- some people would probably say that's a better outing. … It's cool, but it's not like you should be striving to do that. You should just want to eat up innings as a starter and put your team in a position to win."
Facing the A's for the second time in as many starts, Brown continued to roll in his first career appearance at the Coliseum. The Astros rookie got a tough-luck no-decision in his previous outing, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits over six innings while striking out nine A's batters last Saturday.
This time around, Brown locked down a win for both himself and his team by going seven innings for the fourth time this season, with his only blemish coming on Seth Brown's two-run homer in his final frame of work. Punchouts aside, Brown got 15 whiffs from A's batters, including 10 on his curveball.
"He was sharp with his fastball," Astros manager Dusty Baker said. "Real good curveball and a good slider. But it was set up by his fastball command."
Brown pounded the zone on Friday, throwing 61 of his 88 pitches for strikes. He walked only one batter, issuing a free pass to Oakland's Nick Allen with one out in the sixth inning.
Entering the day, Brown's walk rate sat at 8.1 percent, a tick lower than league average (8.4). Since issuing a career-high five free passes against the Giants on May 2, Brown has allowed one walk or fewer in each of his last four starts.
"For young pitchers, the consistency is usually the problem, but he's getting very consistent in his delivery and his mindset," Baker said. "You can tell he's a very determined young man, and he threw a great game. So just build off of that, and then hopefully just keep going and keep going."
Prior to walking Allen, Brown had retired 16 straight, keeping traffic off the bases after allowing a leadoff single to Esteury Ruiz in the first inning.
"He's got electric stuff," said backstop Martín Maldonado, who has caught each of Brown's last three starts. "He does everything he can do to just go out there every five days and make pitches."
Brown was backed by an early outburst from the Astros’ lineup, which had been held scoreless for 19 consecutive innings after the series in Milwaukee.
Houston didn't waste time getting on the board on Friday, ending its drought in the second inning and then putting up a four-spot in the third. Jose Altuve got a pair of knocks in his return to the lineup, while Corey Julks matched his career high by driving in three runs.
That five-run cushion ended up being key as Brown started to lose some steam by the end of his evening, with three of Oakland's four hits off him coming in the seventh inning. He later said that he needs to keep his pitch execution consistent throughout his outing, something that will come with big league repetitions.
"It's still a learning process for me," Brown said. "I'm still trying to just get better every time out. Sometimes it's a little bit less of a challenge than others … but as a whole, I'm just trying to build off each outing."