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More than bragging rights for the Lone Star State will be on the line when the Houston Astros clash with the Texas Rangers on Thursday night in the first contest of a four-game series in Arlington, Texas.
Houston will send Hunter Brown (6-1, 1.48 ERA) to the mound to start Thursday's game while the Rangers will counter with fellow right-hander Jacob deGrom (3-1, 2.72).
It will be the initial meeting of the season between the in-state rivals. Houston has won the season series -- and the Silver Boot that comes with it -- every year since 2016.
This season, the teams are virtually tied in the American League West standings, both two games over .500 and one game behind the first-place Seattle Mariners.
Texas rolls into the series on a season-high-tying five-game winning streak and an 8-3 victory over the hapless Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia each hit a two-run homer in the win.
The Astros have won two straight games and five of their past seven overall following a 4-3 home victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday. Jeremy Pena had a season-best four hits and drove home the winning run with a single in the eighth inning.
Brown ended a string of seven quality starts when he went just 5 2/3 innings in his most recent appearance, a 3-0 win over Cincinnati on Friday. He allowed just two hits and walked four (a season high) while striking out nine.
The 26-year-old hasn't dropped a decision since losing to the New York Mets 3-1 on March 28 in his first start of the year. Astros manager Joe Espada said Brown is maturing and has learned "to stay calm and compete and finish innings" even when gets into trouble -- which has been rare.
"It's the big game changer in Hunter where he knows, ‘I still can strike somebody out no matter where things stand. I'm gonna stay calm, and I'm gonna compete and finish the inning,'" Espada said. "This kid's a competitor. He knows what he means to this rotation, to this team, every time he steps on the mound. He has that attitude you look for in an ace."
Brown is 3-2 in six career starts against the Rangers with a 3.09 ERA in 32 innings. He's allowed 13 runs (11 earned) on 34 hits while striking out 28 and walking 10.
He will have to be at his best to beat deGrom, who has captured his last three outings while surrendering a combined three runs and 12 hits in 16 innings. In his most recent start, deGrom scattered five hits -- including two homers -- as the Rangers won 10-3 in Detroit on Saturday. deGrom struck out 10 in five innings.
"It starts when you locate the fastball, something I wasn't doing well my first few starts," deGrom said after beating the Tigers. "Now that I'm starting to locate the fastball, I can constantly mix it up off that."
deGrom has yet to face the Astros in his career.
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