Houston rookie Hunter Brown was dominant over seven shutout innings, Alex Bregman drove in the only run and the Astros clinched their third straight series win by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 Wednesday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Brown (3-0) allowed just two hits and two walks while fanning eight as the Astros shut out the Rays — the team with the most wins early this season — for the second consecutive night.
Houston’s offense managed just five hits and got two singles from Jeremy Pena, who scored the only run as the visitors improved to 11-4 against Tampa Bay in their past 15 meetings.
Leadoff hitter Mauricio Dubon extended his current hitting streak to a best-in-the-majors 20 games. The second baseman went 1-for-3 with a walk to record the longest streak since Hunter Pence had a hit in 23 straight games in 2011.
Ryan Pressly pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to notch his second save for the Astros, who won for the sixth time in seven games and are 8-4 on the road.
Tampa Bay’s Josh Fleming pitched the bulk of the game behind opener Calvin Faucher (0-1) and was very effective. The left-hander went six scoreless innings and struck out two with a walk.
Manuel Margot went 2-for-3 — his team’s only hits — but was caught trying to steal second as the Rays failed to have a runner reach second in the series finale.
Entering the game averaging 6.5 runs per game, the Rays are in a 19-inning scoreless skid.
For the third straight game in the series, Houston scored first against the Rays.
With one out in the first, Pena singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then he went to third on another wild pitch as Kyle Tucker drew a walk.
Pena scored when shortstop Wander Franco booted what looked like a double-play grounder by Bregman.
Brown, a right-hander, was sharp through the first five innings and faced just two batters over the minimum. Randy Arozarena and Brandon Lowe drew walks while Margot singled.
Brown breezed through two more scoreless frames, but he was relieved by Hector Neris to start the eighth after making 95 pitches, 62 for strikes.
–Field Level Media
