Happy homecoming: Wayne State alum Hunter Brown pitches Astros to win over Tigers
Chris McCosky
Detroit — The last time Hunter Brown was at Comerica Park was in 2018.
"It was right before I got drafted," he said. "My sister had season tickets and we went to a game. There's a picture of us with the scoreboard in the background with Niko Goodrum on it. I played with Niko in Triple-A (earlier this season), so I made sure he saw that."
Brown has got a better Comerica Park story to tell now.
The Astros rookie right-hander, the pride of St. Clair Shores Lakeview High School and the Wayne State University baseball program, took the place over for a night.
"Didn't seem like there were any Tiger fans here tonight," quipped Spencer Torkelson, after Brown and the Astros beat the Tigers, 6-3, Tuesday night.
Pitching in front of a large and enthusiastic rooting section comprised of family, friends and former teammates and coaches, Brown allowed two runs in six innings, striking out six.
"I noticed when I was warming up that I was hearing my name a lot, and I definitely noticed the cheer when I got my first strikeout," he said. "I saw all my Wayne State teammates in the crowd and that meant a lot — it was just an exciting day."
It was Brown's second big-league start and he’s won them both. As he admitted, he wasn’t quite as dominant as he was against the Rangers in his debut (six innings, no runs), but he was impressive.
He threw 54 four-seam fastballs at an average velocity of 96.7 mph. He struck out Javier Báez with a 94-mph slider. And if that wasn’t enough, he mixed in 17 knuckle curves, getting punch-outs with two of them.
"He's a good-looking kid," Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. "I know why they like him. He's easy to like. Good arm, good pitches. He settled in and started to land his secondary pitches, which is going to be a huge difference-maker for any young pitcher in this league."
The Tigers brought a good approach into the game, especially early. They didn’t chase pitches and made Brown come into the strike zone. And, in favorable counts, they hit a lot of balls on the barrel. The 15 balls they put in play had an average exit velocity of 96 mph.
"We got to him a little bit early just because we could spit on his breaking ball — that good, hard slider that we laid off of the first time around," said Torkelson, who walked in four plate appearances. "Then he started throwing it where he wanted to, it seemed like. And when he does that he is a lot more dominant."
The only damage came off the two extra-base hits he allowed. Eric Haase doubled home Torkelson in the second inning. And Akil Baddoo drilled a two-strike breaking ball to the wall in center for a triple in the third inning. He scored on a single by Riley Greene.
Greene had a hit and a walk, extending his on-base streak to 19 games.
Brown set down the last seven hitters he faced through six innings and left with a 4-2 lead.
"I thought I struggled a little bit early with my command, and they did some damage, but I was able to limit it for the most part and chew up six innings," said Brown, who is auditioning for a spot on the Astros' playoff roster. "I'm just hoping to convince Dusty (Baker, manager) that I can help out down the stretch."
It was a befuddling night for Tigers starter Drew Hutchison. He threw a lot of strikes and got ahead of most of the hitters he faced. But that last step in the process eluded him — finishing the hitters off.
The Astros built a 4-0 lead in the first three innings with four two-out hits. In three of the four, Hutchison had two strikes on the hitter.
"It comes down to executing pitches," he said. "I did a good job of filling up the zone and throwing strikes. No walks, usually that's a good outing for me. But when you give up two home runs it cancels it out."
Yordan Alvarez blasted his 33rd home run of the season, hitting a 1-2 changeup with two outs and nobody on in the first inning.
Hutchison got ahead of Alvarez 1-2 again with two outs in the third inning. This time he hung a slider and Alvarez mashed it for a double. He scored when Alex Bregman singled up the middle.
Next hitter, Kyle Tucker, slammed a 1-2 slider from Hutchison into the seats in right field.
Hutchison threw 49 pitches in those first three innings and got just two swings and misses on 24 swings. The damage-to-contact rate was significant.
Still, as he typically does, Hutchison kept fighting and got into the sixth inning, holding the deficit to two runs.
He got some help from reliever Alex Lange in the sixth. After an error by shortstop Báez (on a ground ball hit with an exit velocity of 108 mph by Aledmys Diaz), he gave up one last two-strike hit — a double to Mauricio Dubon.
With runners on second and third, Hutchison gave way to Lange, who struck out Martin Maldonado and, after he hit Jose Altuve to load the bases, Jeremy Pena.
It was a big moment in the game, soon muted by another loud, two-out knock by the Astros — a two-run home run by Yuli Gurriel off Tigers reliever Andrew Chafin.
The home run — hit off a four-seam fastball, a pitch Chafin rarely throws — was a gut-punch. It came after a spectacular diving catch in right-center field by Greene. With a runner at first, Greene tracked a slicing liner by Bregman 109 feet into the gap and caught it with a full layout dive.
"He never gives up on a play," Hinch said. "He will sellout to the final second. Even diving backwards (toward the wall). It's one thing to dive on the ones coming in or going straight across. But as he's diving and the ball is getting farther away from him — those are such hard plays that he makes.
"The pitching staff certainly appreciates them and the coaching staff dreams of players like that who never give up on a play."
Kody Clemens, getting a rare start, pounded his fourth home run of the season in the seventh inning, an opposite-field bullet over the visitor’s bullpen in left-center field. Too little too late.
"The Astros are good," Hinch said. "They can beat you in a lot of different ways. They're tough. We knew it. They have very few holes. That's why they lead the league in wins."
cmccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky