Houston Astros at San Francisco Giants

· Major League Baseball

Houston Astros

31-37, 14-19 Away

Final
3 - 1

San Francisco Giants

33-35, 18-15 Home

Ronel Blanco strikes out 8 in 6 innings as Astros beat Giants 3-1

Blanco (6-2) allowed one run on three hits and became the first pitcher in Astros history to go undefeated in his first nine career road starts, improving to 6-0 away from home. His eight strikeouts tied a season high.

The right-hander said his fastball, slider and changeup were all working — but he went to his fastball more often than his off-speed pitches and caught some of the Giants batters off guard.

“We needed a good outing from Blanco, and he gave us that,” Astros manager Joe Espada said.

Houston took a 3-1 lead in the fifth when two runs scored on an RBI infield single by Alex Bregman. With two outs and runners on second and third, Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman grabbed Bregman’s softly hit ball with a bare hand but threw wide of first for an error, allowing both runners to score.

Espada credited his team for putting the ball in play in RBI situations, with all its runs scoring on balls that didn't leave the infield.

“Anything can happen when you put the ball in play, and we did that there with two outs,” Espada said. “You don’t see Chapman throwing many balls away, but we were fortunate enough that he threw one away.”

Ryan Pressly earned his second save of the season, striking out two in the ninth. Houston held the Giants to three hits, their season low.

The Astros, who won their fourth game this season when scoring three or fewer runs, can pick up their third consecutive series win with a victory on Wednesday.

Houston responded after blowing a 3-1 lead in the 10th inning on Monday to the Giants.

“It's easy just to let that loss from last night just linger and drag you to game two, but this group just bounces back,” Espada said.

Both teams scored a run in the third. Dubon came home on Jose Altuve's groundout after hitting a leadoff double, and Brett Wisely homered for the Giants. Dubon, who played for San Francisco from 2019-22, went 2 for 3 with two doubles.

“I think the quality of the at-bats have been good with runners in scoring position,” Bregman said. “Obviously, early in the year we weren’t as good, but we’re starting to play a lot better offensively — how we normally do.”

San Francisco starter Jordan Hicks (4-3) allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings. Giants manager Bob Melvin said Hicks has been sick for the past few days and pitched well considering the circumstances.

“I think based on what he was dealing with today, the line doesn’t look great (but) I thought he pitched pretty well,” Melvin said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: C Yainer Diaz is still dealing with a sore right index finger after getting hit by a foul ball Sunday. Houston recalled César Salazar from Triple-A Sugar Land for catching depth while Victor Caratini continues to start. OF Joey Loperfido was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move. … OF Kyle Tucker, on the injured list with a bruised right shin, is improving and was doing exercises in the weight room before the game.

Giants: Chapman returned to the lineup after missing two games with a sore hamstring. … RHP Alex Cobb (shoulder) felt “great” after throwing a bullpen of 20-25 pitches, Melvin. … LHP Blake Snell (left groin strain) will throw off a mound Wednesday. … SS Marco Luciano (right hamstring strain) is close to beginning a rehab assignment.

RHP Logan Webb (5-5, 2.92 ERA) pitches for the Giants against LHP Framber Valdez (5-3, 3.53) in the series finale Wednesday.

How can I watch Houston Astros vs. San Francisco Giants?

TV Channel: Astros at Giants 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Giants: 58.9%

Astros: 41.1%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Conforto struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Chapman struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Bailey lined out to center.
	9th Inning	Pressly relieved B. Abreu
	9th Inning	Cabbage grounded into double play, third to shortstop to first, Singleton out at second.
	9th Inning	Meyers struck out swinging.

Statistics

HOU		SF
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
13	Ground Balls	5
10	Strikeouts	12
2	Runs Batted In	1
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
7	Hits	3
0	Stolen Bases	0
1	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
3	Runs	1
1	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
33	At Bats	30
0	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
12	Runners Left On Base	6
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
2	Doubles	1
10	Fly Balls	13
0	Caught Stealing	0
128	Pitches	142
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
9	Total Bases	7
34	Plate Appearances	32
0.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
2	Extra Base Hits	2
1.5	Runs Created	0.5
.212	Batting Average	.100
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.273	Slugging Percentage	.233
.091	Secondary Average	.200
.235	On Base Percentage	.156
.508	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.390
1.3	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.4
1.5	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	0.5
21.0	Batter Rating	12.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	30.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.76	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.44
.061	Isolated Power	.133
0.10	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.17
.029	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.063
-.121	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.100
5.0	Runs Produced	2.0
0.7	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.3
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.1
71.3	MLB Rating	61.8
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0