HOUSTON -- They have been the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked Astros prospects by MLB Pipeline getting into the 2023 season, so the longer term was already shiny for right-handed pitcher Hunter Brown and catcher Yainer Diaz coming into the yr. Living as much as these expectations, although, isn’t all the time a certain factor.

More than midway by way of their rookie seasons, each Brown and Diaz have had ups and downs, however they confirmed Saturday night time why this pitcher-catcher battery might wind up being elite. Brown carried a shutout into the seventh inning, and Diaz went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and an RBI double because the Astros blasted the Rays, 17-4, at Minute Maid Park.

“Hunter and I, we communicate a lot before the game, which is why when we go out there, we don’t argue much about pitches,” Diaz mentioned. ‘We have plan and that plan makes me really feel comfy.”

Diaz clubbed one of many Astros’ 5 residence runs, three of which got here within the seventh inning in opposition to Rays catcher René Pinto, who was pressed into mound motion. Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez homered off Pinto. José Abreu additionally had a homer whereas going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs.

Diaz’s 13 homers are one shy of the Astros’ single-season file for residence runs by a rookie, trailing Mitch Meluskey, who had 14 in 2000. Seven of Diaz’s homers have come since June 14, which is when he began taking part in extra usually after Alvarez went on the injured record. He’s made 24 begins at catcher and 26 at designated hitter this yr.

“I feel a lot more comfortable playing every day or playing most of the time now,” Diaz mentioned. “It gives me a pretty good idea of how I’m getting attacked. Before, I [would be] playing a game and it would be a couple of days before I see the field again and the way I’m being attacked might change a little bit there, and I wasn’t able to make a huge adjustment. I feel more comfortable now.”

“I feel happy for Korey going out there and getting an opportunity and for him to continue to do what he’s doing,” Diaz mentioned.

Brown gave up a one-out single within the first inning to Wander Franco, which was the one hit in opposition to him till Isaac Paredes hit a two-run homer within the seventh -- the primary of his two homers within the sport. Brown was pulled one batter later after giving up two runs, 4 hits and two walks with 4 strikeouts.

“He was good,” Astros supervisor Dusty Baker mentioned. “He had good command of the fastball, his slider was good [and] his changeup was good. We were hoping to get to him through that seventh and save the bullpen, but his pitch count was getting up there. He threw the ball well tonight.”

Brown is 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA in 4 appearances (two begins) in his profession in opposition to the Rays, with 17 strikeouts in 17 innings.

“He's got great stuff up there on the mound,” Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe mentioned. “Really good fastball, fairly good offspeed pitches as nicely. Having that man on the market attacking you, it is fairly troublesome. I believe some guys put collectively some actually good at-bats, so it was extraordinarily promising. There's some positives to take out of what we went by way of right now, for certain."

Brown has been engaged on a sweeper the previous couple of months and threw seven of them Saturday to associate with his fastball, slider and curveball. 

“I was sharp with the cutter, slider today,” Brown mentioned. “I was using that early in the counts and got me some ground balls and I had them swinging early in the counts.”

Diaz caught six of Brown’s first seven begins of the season, after which Martín Maldonado caught his subsequent 10 begins. Baker paired Brown and Diaz once more July 18, and Brown has allowed 4 earned runs in 12 innings in his final two begins.

“We’re hoping they can be together for a while,” Baker mentioned. “I like it a lot, as long as you keep getting the production out of them that we’re getting.”

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