HOUSTON -- They were the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked Astros prospects by MLB Pipeline entering the 2023 season, so the future was already bright for right-handed pitcher Hunter Brown and catcher Yainer Diaz coming into the year. Living up to those expectations, though, isn’t always a sure thing.

More than halfway through their rookie seasons, both Brown and Diaz have had ups and downs, but they showed Saturday night why this pitcher-catcher battery could wind up being elite. Brown carried a shutout into the seventh inning, and Diaz went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and an RBI double as the Astros blasted the Rays, 17-4, at Minute Maid Park.

“Hunter and I, we communicate a lot before the game, which is why when we go out there, we don’t argue much about pitches,” Diaz said. ‘We have a good plan and that plan makes me feel comfortable.”

The win got the Astros to within one game of the lead in the American League West after the Rangers lost to the Padres.

Diaz clubbed one of the Astros’ five home runs, three of which came in the seventh inning against Rays catcher René Pinto, who was pressed into mound action. Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez homered off Pinto. José Abreu also had a homer while going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs.

Diaz’s 13 homers are one shy of the Astros’ single-season record for home runs by a rookie catcher, trailing Mitch Meluskey, who had 14 in 2000. Seven of Diaz’s homers have come since June 14, which is when he started playing more regularly after Alvarez went on the injured list. He’s made 24 starts at catcher and 26 at designated hitter this year.

“I feel a lot more comfortable playing every day or playing most of the time now,” Diaz said. “It gives me a pretty good idea of how I’m getting attacked. Before, I [would be] playing a game and it would be a couple of days before I see the field again and the way I’m being attacked might change a little bit there, and I wasn’t able to make a huge adjustment. I feel more comfortable now.”

Diaz came to camp battling with catching prospect Korey Lee for the starting job and beat him out, earning a spot on the Opening Day roster. Lee was traded Friday to the White Sox for relief pitcher Kendall Graveman, which is another signal Diaz is the club’s catcher of the future.

“I feel happy for Korey going out there and getting an opportunity and for him to continue to do what he’s doing,” Diaz said.

Brown gave up a one-out single in the first inning to Wander Franco, which was the only hit against him until Isaac Paredes hit a two-run homer in the seventh -- the first of his two homers in the game. Brown was pulled one batter later after giving up two runs, four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

“He was good,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “He had good command of the fastball, his slider was good [and] his changeup was good. We were hoping to get to him through that seventh and save the bullpen, but his pitch count was getting up there. He threw the ball well tonight.”

Brown is 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA in four appearances (two starts) in his career against the Rays, with 17 strikeouts in 17 innings.

“He's got great stuff up there on the mound,” Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe said. “Really good fastball, pretty good offspeed pitches as well. Having that guy out there attacking you, it's pretty difficult. I think some guys put together some really good at-bats, so it was extremely promising. There's some positives to take out of what we went through today, for sure."

Brown has been working on a sweeper the past couple of months and threw seven of them Saturday to go along with his fastball, slider and curveball. 

“I was sharp with the cutter, slider today,” Brown said. “I was using that early in the counts and got me some ground balls and I had them swinging early in the counts.”

Diaz caught six of Brown’s first seven starts of the season, and then Martín Maldonado caught his next 10 starts. Baker paired Brown and Diaz again July 18, and Brown has allowed four earned runs in 12 innings in his last two starts.

“We’re hoping they can be together for a while,” Baker said. “I like it a lot, as long as you keep getting the production out of them that we’re getting.”