Brownson Has Impressive Debut

Mark Brownson didn’t know that Mike Hampton had defeated the Colorado Rockies six consecutive times. He was just happy to defeat the Houston Astros for the first time.

Brownson pitched five no-hit innings in his major league debut and finished with a four-hitter as Colorado ended a nine-game road losing streak with a 5-0 victory over Houston on Tuesday.

Brownson, who has a 36-39 minor-league record, stepped into the starting rotation in place of injured John Thomson and dominated the Astros, who lead the NL in runs scored with 543.

Brownson, who struck out seven and walked one, became the 20th pitcher to make his major league debut with the Rockies.

“I’m very excited,” he said.

“It’s unbelievable how it turned out. I just tried to throw strikes, that was my game plan. I was nervous but I tried to control it.”

Vinny Castilla got three hits and two runs batted in for the Rockies, including a solo homer in the sixth.

At one point, Brownson sat down 10 consecutive Astros.

“I talked to some people this week and they said it’s the same game just at a different level,” Brownson said. “For some reason I had confidence. I had a feeling that if I threw strikes, they would hit it at somebody.’

NEXT SERIES FOR DODGERS

WHO: Houston Astros

WHERE: Dodger Stadium

WHEN: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.; Tuesday, 7 p.m.