Astros: Hunter Brown deals while Shay Whitcomb helps widen gap in AL West

will the Astros win their ninth out of their last 10 games they extend the lead in the AL West and Hunter Brown continues to impress as Shay Wickam joined the Hit Parade let's talk about it on tonight's locked on Astros jel Diaz this is locked on Astros hello and welcome to locked on Astros your daily Astros podcast here are your host Eric the man Heisman and Bret htown wheelhouse [Music] chansy hey there and welcome in to a Saturday night edition of locked on Astros I'm HJ willhouse you can find me at hjh house on X Instagram and Tik Tok you can find me at stros 411 on X and on Facebook you can also find me on back to the bullpen on YouTube you can find me on back to the bullpen on Instagram X and look wherever you get your podcast go to ihart Radio and check that out but we are here free and easy to listen to the lock on Asos podcast your team every single day what a nice win tonight after a somewhat Downer of a game Friday night which we won't talk a lot about but look Spencer arag Getti the rookie that has really been getting it done really been dealing on Friday night I want to start there and then we'll get into diesel himself on players weekend and I am kind of disappointed they didn't let the players wear their names on the back of their jerseys I think Jeremy Peña is better known as La tormenta than jp3 or JP that's kind of a week out on a nickname but they did have the jerseys for a sale this week and I didn't get one I didn't partake but you know despite the loss on Friday night the Astros were competitive and towards the end made a push to try to extend the game into Extra Innings you know Singleton helped and then altu didn't help there at the end uh he had a one for five night but the Astros were competitive and you know after that game the reason why I bring that up is um Garrett crochet after the game said look we know we're not playoff contenders so we're just GNA come in here and we want to mess things up for people we want to disrupt things and so um they absolutely did that last night but to our you know for us as Astros fans and Astros locked on Astros Nation the Mariners lost last night well guess what they lost again today and because of that loss the Astros are now four games up on the a now it doesn't mean you let the foot off the gas it doesn't mean that you stopped working as hard as you've been working it just means that the grind might be might seem a little easier right now but we're about to we are in the dog days we're about to get into the gauntlet part of the Houston Astro season it is brutal after this white sock series um I'm looking at the schedule right now and we've got Boston here so three more games at home after Sunday's game then we have Baltimore Philadelphia on the road then we come home no off day Kansas City so the the White Socks game we started 714 basically 17 days in a row without an off day um so you like seeing your pitcher and Hunter Brown go seven Innings he looks really good on the mountain tonight um let me just give you some of his peripherals the last several starts I'm going to start in the month of May is really where he turned it on in um in March and April going into may he only had one win on his record he at won point was six was one and six um or one and five then you get to may he was 4-0 did I say June in June he was 4-2 in July he was 4- two as well and in this month he's now he now has two wins so he really has done an excellent job this guy is streaking right now in his second full season he has made 23 times through the rotation one relief appearance and he set to make he he he made his 24th start today and his first nine appearances um he had mixed results with the with that nine and3 record but since then has been absolutely on fire 9-2 in his last 13 now 10 and two in his last 14 he leads an erra in the league over bayy obber and Logan Gilbert he also is tied with fber for the most wins in that time span fber Valdez is also nine and2 and he went seven Innings that is what you have to have you have to have your starters right now at this point go seven Innings six Innings is nice I think they want to get Kikuchi out there next time he goes I think he's got to go six Kikuchi I love you at five and two3 but I gotta get an extra out because tonight you had you knew that Presley was down Presley is out with some lower back tightness I believe is what Joe spot has said before the game and Bri Bru came in gave up one walk had 2ks one inning was nice Brian King came in um he didn't need to get the save because they were up by too much but he came in only gave up the one hit and induced a double play and he had one inning but six of the eight strikeouts came from Hunter Brown only four hits only one run one earned and only two walks his erra is now 382 he is firing on all cylinders diesel as they call him is firing on all cylinders you didn't have to have haterade you didn't have to have press come out well press is hurt and you know Bri Bru did his job I know that lately um you know Brian the eighth inning has been a little snake bit I remember Brian came in a couple games ago and he gave up some stuff he gave up like maybe it's like one run but when your pitcher can go seven and you don't have to use three guys to set up getting that game closed out that is a huge help um and what's amazing is you have the Astros that have Shay witam up as a rookie you have Zack deszo is up as a rookie you've got guys like Brian King who this is their first time really seen action with the Astros you've got a lot of young faces on this team um oh I don't know if y'all saw this but Kyle Tucker was taking swings before the game Kyle Tucker was on the field in the batting cage hitting the baseball and Joe SP said he didn't do any of that um um yeah and so you know it's funny I just saw that I just said that and Michael I just saw your comment so that's a great catch right there that was great to see him swinging he's not running the bases that's true so let's temper our excitement but still that's a good sign a good step in the right direction if we can get through August if we can get through August and we can win a majority of these games I think this team will set a tone going into September so Tampa we only took one game um we took two in Texas so that means we were three and three in our first six we swept Boston six and three we swept Tampa nine and three we've split now we're 10 and four right now we're 10 and four if we win tomorrow we'll be 11 and four with 3 six with 12 games left will be 12-4 with 12 games left if you split those games and you win six more games that's 18 and 10 that's not a bad that's not a bad record would yall take 18 and 10 in August considering who we're playing I think I would someone said bring up Whitley look Whitley's Whitley let Whitley cook Whitley's cooking he's got a consec itive Street um he's he is he is building up He is building up um to get up here Whitley may get the call late in the season kind of hope he does um when is JV coming back well uh I did not hear and maybe maybe I missed it maybe some of y'all heard it but I didn't hear exactly how JV was after the game um yeah 19 and N would be ideal I'm just saying if I'm looking at B if I'm looking at Boston which we swept them but I'm looking at Boston Baltimore Philadelphia and Kansas City back to back to back like that I'm sitting there going and actually it's four so it's oh I I did three three and three so it's actually 13 games versus Boston Baltimore Philadelphia and KC so in those 13 games let's go seven and six then that right there puts you at at um at what uh 19 and 10 that's not bad that's not bad hey what's up Mr Rashard how you doing thank y'all yeah there you go jaylen's like I'll take 18 and 10 why not um and this this is a great comment right here I think the energy of players like Zach and Shay spark energy throughout the team I agree with that um we're GNA continue this conversation on the other side make sure you'all make locked on Astros your first listen remember we're your team every single day this episode is brought to you by tonal go to tonal.com and use a promo code lock. 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lockon Astros postcast as the seasons kick up with the Texans and soon the Rockets after that um he will be basically locked on Houston sports postcast with u ofh Houston Rockets and Houston Texans as well so check him out today um so yesterday the last I had heard was from Mick tagert and um Justin Verlander said that he was pleased with his work during his Rehab start for Corpus on Thursday but said his next step is to be determined so I've just got to find that official quote for him y'all are saying um y'all are saying that he talked about being being ready to join the team Monday look I think I think JV will more than likely be back sooner rather than later and once he joins we will have that six-man rotation so the rookie Shay whitcom we cannot forget this kid this kid today came in and did a did phenomenal work at the plate he had a double for his first major league hit it was almost a home run and then he had another hit and a walk to contribute he contributed a run two for three one base on ball one run two hits 667 average and 1750 Ops wow this kid's killing it of course it's a sample size of one game but he came in and did his job now what I want to focus on with Shay Wickam is he's down there with kartini Meyers whitcom and dubon those hitters six through nine hitters noise seven for 13 four runs and One RBI love it absolutely love it that was it's a great now in the middle Singleton and Pia all went over um they combined for four strikeouts total not a great game for them but shoot up to the top your number one hitter Jose Altuve your number two hitter yordon Alvarez and your number three hitter now because we still have Tucker out Yer Diaz two for five on Diaz two for four Alvarez two for four Altuve responsible for two of the runs responsible for four of the RBI and all three combined for a total of only two strikeouts they went six for 13 with five RBI with two run scored and that is how they won this game not only did they win this game with their hitters 1 through three and 6 through n they also did it with the pitching like we talked about Hunter Brown and not only Hunter brown but the relief pitchers shutting the door now um when when it comes to the Houston Astros and injuries sometimes we all kind of feel like and I know I'm not alone in this we all kind of feel like hm well maybe they're not being honest with us are you sure that's what's going on because you say one thing and it seems like another but the asholes I think are being very honest with um with our setup man I'm almost said closer Ryan Presley with his back soreness um that he came into and so I think there is kind of an advantage with Presley being out not just because I don't want him pitching the a and y'all know that I've readily said that and I know some of y'all feel the same way but at the same time um I would simply have to say this that this setback for him or this could provide rest that Presley needs to maybe be more effective and aspa didn't say that it was the lower back that was hurting him causing him to not have success when he was going in the eighth inning but I'm pretty sure it had to contribute Jeremy Frost said rub some dirt on it now there's a good question here in the chat and since I'm solo it is a little bit tougher to get to these but um solivan Sean I think it's Sean solivan um he's he's asking this he says how can we bring up Whitley with gravan and murphrey um Murphy Coming well look good point I'm just saying if you're going to bring up Whitley you're going to let him cook you're going to let him marinate some more and he would be a late season call up I don't even know if Gran's coming back I mean are we 100% sure on gravan coming back because we were all sure about Luis Garcia and that dude that dude he's he's nowhere to be found so I think right now if I'm playing my cards now it's me counting on Whitley being a late inning call up a contributor he's been pitching really well and he probably deserves a spot or a shot I should say um give your prediction for the rest of the season robertt Cortez wants me to give my prediction for the rest of the season like what do you mean you mean like wins and losses uh or my prediction on gravan oh someone said no on gravan look what when Gran's good when Gran's not injured he's he's good but I don't I don't know how great he's been for us he's been good um yeah so I will H gravedigger dude I had I had a really cool shirt I called it grave circumstances or something and it had grav Ben's number on it it was so neat then boom he left the team that's when he went to the white socks I think dude that was weird gra the handling of gravan the handling of gravan says this is just it's just been weird it's just been weird that that's right cam four games up oh by the way I think I only have like one ticket left for the September game and we've got I got something I added to the prize pot for the game if you're coming to the game we are raffling off and this is all free We're not gonna like charge you a dollar per ticket okay um we're raffling off a bregman gold glove I think it's a well it's a bregman throwing bobblehead I don't I don't think it's gold glove bregman throwing bobblehead Jose Altuve cycle bobblehead um Jose Altuve Jersey that I got this Friday that I'm going to give away the 2000's Jersey the bregman Jersey um the old school blue with the should with the rainbow shoulders says Astros and white on the front and then we're also giving everybody the exclusive hashtag every dayer and MVP listener stickers I haven't giving these out to anybody I'm waiting to give these to those of y'all coming to the game with us so I'm excited about that that's going to be fun um Willard says Brett honestly if Houston keeps winning you think Houston can get to number two seed plus do you think Houston could beat the Dodgers in the world series or the Phillies in the World Series plus beat the Yankees in the ALCS look Willard those are all good questions um I would say this I would say this that the Astros getting into the number two seed if I'm looking at the standings they're still going to have to Leap Frog they're going to have to jump the Royals I believe um if I'm looking at the division because right now we no they're gonna have to Leap Frog Cleveland Cleveland is 72 and 51 the Astros are 66 and 56 um they're going to have to they're going to have to be equaling they're going to have to get there with New York and with Cleveland Robert Cor says the rest of the season is easy win it all or not we we will or will the Astros be where will the Astros be is all I said okay um Robert Cortez will the Astros win the World Series I have no clue I think this team can win the World Series Willard asked me how can these guys how can we beat these teams simple we've got the horses in the barn if everybody's healthy if we go to the six rotation and everybody stays locked in even through the rest of August and September you just have to be hot at the right time like Mike sandon told me he said Brett the difficult part is getting to the playoffs once you're in the playoffs it's anybody's game whether we're the third seed or the second seed how many wild card teams how many teams that weren't the top seed have gone on to do things and we know when we've been the favorite how that goes so you can favorite the Dodgers you can favorite the Yankees I would put our pitch in against the Yankees any day at this point I mean Aaron judge and Juan SoDo are gonna have to beat you if you keep Juan stto and Aaron judge in the park okay um then you really have a shot at beating the ankes if you play them and you know what someone said we need to call Eric I don't know I'll reach out to him while we talk about our guys at supply house and see what he says this episode is Broad te by supplyhouse.com get all your plumbing hbac and electrical needs at supplyhouse.com this is going out to the skilled Tradesman this is going out to all you hard workers that you know you need a reliable source you want friendly customer service and you know what you even want it to be an advantage that you call the people that help you get the parts to your store delivered to your door from coast to coast you can choose from over 200,000 parts from over 400 top brands and if you need help with an order those experts will help you industry-leading the most friendly people a real person you'll get to talk to every time and if you join supply houses trade master program every trade Master gets access to a dedicated phone line free shipping and discounts on every order join the thousands of trade Pros already benefiting from their free membership at supplyhouse.com t-m in order plumbing hbac and electrical supplies from anywhere with just a few clicks at supplyhouse.com all right and a special guest joining us we have Eric Heisman co-host of locked on Astros Eric on on on a mobile um coming to you live Saturday night Eric how you doing I'm doing okay I'm just trying to recover from first day of the week a lot of Astros winning and just some much better baseball real yeah definitely you know um the the fans here wanted to hear your voice they were like where's Eric can we get Eric on the phone so I figured we would go ahead talk to you Eric on a mobile kind of like a big radio station Eric okay sounds good yeah I'm just uh ready getting ready for bed and spend some time in my kids day so um overall we watch the game and um Hunter Brown looked great and then you had um Shay Wham look pretty good um out there at uh playing third base and then you have um him him getting his first hit as a double so a lot to talk about tonight that's right well hey Eric thanks for talking to us lights out production said hey Eric wake up we got a show going on but man I just wanted to come in because hey when our fans ask us to do something we do it for them right right all right Eric well hey man um you get some rest brother and we'll talk to you tomorrow night H hopefully after a White Socks win I mean Astros win over the white socks Astro Series win how's that okay all righty all right all right bye all right there you go you ask and you shall receive that's right all you got to do is ask what's what's the worst someone can do say no that's what my dad always told me SFA Powerhouse said sweet dreams Eric pton says what okay look we had a fan Mr Jeremy Frost said you should call Eric so I called Eric and he was like what are you doing calling me was during the break and he goes I was like look I'm going to I'm going to bring you live on the air through the phone so anyways hey why not I mean we're having fun on a Saturday night but hey we can't forget our relief pitchers at the end uh Michael King um did I say hold on Brian King why do oh Michael King is the Yankees pitcher Brian King okay Brian King with a 2.60 erra in 18 games um 17. one inning started 20 strikeouts a 1.10 whip came in tonight and he did a phenomenal job Brian Bru who has seen a ton of action this year one of the guys that probably could benefit from some rest came in and did the job close the door the Astros did not allow them back in beating Sho Ting the World Series would please me I think it would please everybody in Houston if we did that so the Houston Astros have won nine out of their last 10 games unfortunately Friday was a loss they could have had a 10 game win streak I was kind of hoping for an 11 game win streak but their records getting better in one-run games we know what they lost last night they're 13 and 20 two-run games they're 9 and 12 versus left-handers they're 17 and 19 and versus right-handers they're 48- 37 um they have a day game tomorrow they are perfect a not perfect they are dead even at 22 and 22 um Willard has one more thing oh Chaz poor Chaz he needs to get his grandma to bake him some meatloaf I know Ma where's the meatloaf exactly Eric was on melatonin good thing he didn't want hey look no for all tense and purposes I really think Eric was uh Eric was legit about to go to bed so right here Willard says Brett can you imagine if Houston had resigned Korea and Springer and Cole you think Houston would be unstoppable right now or no plus you think Houston would have lost to the Braves in 22 look I think in 21 if we don't have the injuries we have I think if if you keep Lance mccullers's healthy if Jake Meyers stays healthy and I know Le is like but it's Jake Myers but Jake Meers was doing great okay um Jake Meers was contributing in that season if you don't have the injuries you have I think you beat the Braves but the Braves got hot you got to give them credit the four guys they picked up at the trade deadline all helped them and they're not Superstars but they're known and they are good baseball players when it counts the jock Peterson Jorge Solair guys like that so they maximize what they got at the trade deadline I I just don't think there's any sto in that team now I was at game two and I thought after that game two that kind of swung the momentum back and even in Atlanta all the guys all the talk heads were like yeah you know okay they they split in Houston yeah there's more of a chance but I really think that the Astros are going to take this one ultimately and the same thing oh yeah game seven of 2019 Jeremy will always haunt us but look I've I've talked to Will Harris about this and Will Harris said that was a perfect pitch that was a pitch that he would throw 10 times out of 10 and hoe Kendrick just happened to put the bat on the ball and sometimes that happens the old cliche sometimes baseball happens um Sullivan says um Sean goes the astrol would be in so much debt if they kept all those players yeah you're right they would um but I trust that the Houston Astros are gon to make the right decision I trust that the Houston Astros are going to be healthy when the time is right and get the job done guys I had to break in tonight it was a great it was a great win for the Astros thank y'all for hanging out with us almost 200 of y'all already on a Saturday night so don't forget to make us your team every day and if you get a chance not if you know what when you do after you listen to me go check out Paul Francis solivan please call him soy lock will be one of the biggest baseball encyclopedias in the humanoid form that there is on the planet so you know I'm excited that the Astros continue to win continue to look good and I'm pumped that you guys are a part of the lock on Astros family for myself for Eric Heisman and everybody in the locked on Astros Kingdom that's including y'all the real MVPs I'm out y'all get some rest kids make sure you eat your vitamins say your prayers and hey be good to someone as always ghost Ros