TODAY’S GAME: The first-place Houston Astros (71-69), who hold a slim 2.0-game lead in the AL West, will host the Chicago White Sox (73-66) for the finale of their four-game series today at Daikin Park.
RHP Hunter Brown (4-3, 3.33 ERA), who shut out the White Sox in 7.0 innings on July 25 in Chicago, will get the start today opposite old rival RHP Luis Castillo (4-10, 5.31 ERA) and the White Sox.
BROTHER BROWN: RHP Hunter Brown has posted a 2.63 ERA (12ER/41IP) in his last seven starts (since July
25), pitching through the 5th inning in all seven outings. Brown, who finished third in the AL Cy Young Award voting last season, has been limited this season, missing over two months due to a lengthy stint on the Injured List (April 1-June 15) with a right shoulder strain.
SLOW AND STEADY RECOVERY: Since starting the season with a 20-31 record after 51 games, the Astros are 51-38 (.573) in their last 89 games (since May 22). That is the second-best record in the AL in that span, behind the Red Sox (53-38).
MEASURING UP: The Astros are within a streak of playing four straight teams with winning records (CWS, ARI, PHI, TB). The Astros are an American League-best 27-18 (.600) vs. teams currently at .500 or above. Some clubs that the Astros have winning records against include BOS (5-1), CHC (3-0), CWS (4-2), CLE (4-2), MIA (3-0), and TB (2-1).
VS. THE WHITE SOX: Regardless of today’s result, the Astros have won the season series against the White Sox, going 4-2 so far with one game to play. The Astros are 26-15 vs. CWS over the past six seasons (2021-26), posting winning records in each of those years. Houston is 57-48 all-time vs. CWS.
ONE OF THE BEST: Astros prospect C Jason Schiavone has six HR and 13 RBI in his last eight games after homering again last night. In his combined 110 games at Single A Asheville and Double A Corpus, he leads the Astros system in HR (31) and RBI (84) while slashing .258/.396/.548 for a .944 OPS.
HADER EARNS AUGUST HONORS: Major League Baseball announced today that Astros LHP Josh Hader has been named the American League Reliever of the Month for August. It is Hader’s ninth career Reliever of the Month Award and his third as an Astro. In the month, Hader converted all seven of his save opportunities, while going scoreless in his 13 total appearances and 14.1 innings pitched.
STREAKING: LHP Josh Hader has worked 19 consecutive scoreless appearances, spanning 20.0 innings (since July 21). This is the longest streak by an Astros hurler this season and the second-longest active streak in the Majors. Opponents are just 5×65 (.077) vs. Hader during the streak.
THE CLOSER: LHP Josh Hader has 249 career saves, needing just one more save to become the 41st player in modern MLB history to reach 250 career saves. Hader has 22 of those saves this season, in 22 save chances.
ON THE OFFENSIVE: Among AL teams, the Astros rank second in home runs (184), second in total bases (1,917), third in slugging (.408), fifth in runs scored (633), and fifth in OPS (.723).
TRIPLE THREAT: DH Yordan Alvarez, who is a solid candidate for the AL MVP Award, currently owns at least a share of the lead in all three Triple Crown categories. He enters today leading the AL in batting avg. (.317) and RBI (94), while ranking tied for first in HR (37).
Rare Feat: Since Carl Yastrzemski won the AL Triple Crown in 1967, there has been just one Triple Crown winner in the Majors, Miguel Cabrera in 2012 (AL).
MATCHING HIS BEST: DH Yordan Alvarez has matched his career high by smacking 37 home runs on the season, reaching his total from 2022. His career-high in RBI is 104, set in 2021 (currently has an AL-best 94 RBI).
WALK OF FAME: DH Yordan Alvarez has been issued 29 intentional walks on the year, which is a franchise record, besting the 27 intentional walks for 1B Jeff Bagwell in 1997. Alvarez leads the Majors in intentional walks, topping second-place DH Shohei Ohtani (16) by a whopping 13 IBB. Lastly, the AL record for intentional walks in a season is in play for Alvarez, a record that’s currently held by RF Aaron Judge (36 IBB in 2025).
THE HIT MAN: 2B Jose Altuve enters today’s game needing just six hits to reach 2,500 for his career. Among active players, Altuve ranks second in hits, trailing only 1B Freddie Freeman (2,586).
BEHIND THE DISH: C Christian Vázquez has played in 999 career games as a catcher and is looking to become just the third active catcher to reach 1,000 career games behind the dish. He would join C Salvador Perez (1,427) and C J.T. Realmuto (1,382) in that exclusive group.
TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 2004 – Roger Clemens passes both Nolan Ryan and Don Sutton on the all-time wins list with victory #325 in an 8-6 win over the Pirates. Clemens lasts 6.2 innings to earn the win. Jeff Bagwell, Carlos Beltrán, Craig Biggio and Jose Vizcaino each homered in the win. Clemens improves to 15-4 on the year en route to another Cy Young.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Thursday, September 3, 1:10 p.m. CT
Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX
TV: Space City Home Network
Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
