Hunter Brown’s shoulders slumped as soon as Rays outfielder Josh Lowe made contact with his first pitch of the fifth inning Wednesday. That changeup landed beyond the center-field wall. Brown’s next pitch,

Right now, Brown leads the American League with a 2.5 WAR, six wins, 5.241 hits per nine innings, 56 2/3 innings pitched and 0.318 home runs per nine innings. That puts him in the company of some of the league's best like Max Fried, Nathan Eovaldi, Tarik Skubal, Kris Bubic and Garrett Crochet.

Aside from one hiccup, Hunter Brown showed he was worthy of the ace label as he dueled resolutely with Rangers star Jacob deGrom in a taut series opener.

Brown came out on the losing end despite eight brilliant innings against another ace: "This kid's got something."

This anticipated pitchers' duel fully lived up to expectations. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom got the win for the Texas Rangers over the blossoming Houston Astros standout who is 10 years younger,

Hunter Brown joins the broadcast in the 5th inning to talk about his start in the first game against the Rangers, incorporating a two-seam fastball into his arsenal, and more

Its Wednesday, May 21 and the Astros (25-23) are in Tampa to take on the Rays (22-26). Hunter Brown is slated to take the mound for Houston against Taj Bradley for Tampa Bay.

Exploring Hunter Brown's American League Cy Young chances against Tarik Skubal and Max Fried.Brown's standout season could tip the scales in his favor.