Hunter Brown took the mound against Giants rookie Carson Whisenhunt Tuesday night, and it was a frustrating one for Houston from the get-go.
Altuve was hit by a pitch in the first, loading the bases. Nelson Velazquez, making his Astros debut after being claimed off waivers, grounded out in his first at bat. Then Christian Walker followed and had a chance to bring runners home, but the Giants outfield made a tough catch to get the out. Bases loaded, and Houston couldn't cash in. Not a great start to a pretty important game.
The next inning, Peña barehanded one for the first out, Brown barehanded another for the second, and Velazquez caught a pop foul to put the inning to bed. For a minute there it looked like the Astros were locking in.
Varsho picked up a base hit, which was just the second Whisenhunt had allowed to a lefty in 20 at-bats all season. Cam Smith followed with a base hit of his own, and Varsho hustled to third, great base running by Varsho. But he was thrown out at the plate trying to score.
Alvarez came through with a sac fly to bring in the run, his 87th RBI of the season, and Houston led 1-0. He's still working his way toward the RBI lead too, sitting tied for second in MLB with 87, just four behind CJ Abrams' 91, per ESPN.
Nick Allen took over at second for Altuve, who left the game with what was later announced as a left foot contusion. San Francisco tied it up in the second, Devers walked, moved up on a wild pitch, then scored when Gilbert singled. And from there, things began to unravel for Houston.
Paredes popped one out later in the game, and the Giants outfield actually overran it, and missed what should have been an easy catch. With Paredes on base, they had an opportunity to get back in the game, but Houston just couldn't catch a break.
The Giants made Brown work all night, and it caught up to him in the fifth when he gave up a solo homer to Bryce Eldridge. Once again, Houston had a chance to answer back later in the game, Alvarez was hit in the foot, but Paredes followed with a pop out that the Giants caught this time, ending the opportunity.
But the real damage came in the sixth, when Enyel De Los Santos gave up a single and a double that put the Giants up 4-1, and that's where the score stayed.
Cam Smith nearly beat out a play at first in the ninth but was thrown out. Diaz was thrown out at first too, and Peña, who stepped up 0-for-4, made the final out of the game the same way.
Pop up after pop up, Houston just couldn't get more than one run on the board.
Hunter Brown took the loss, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4 over 5 innings, per ESPN.
The Astros and Giants split the first two games and now head to a rubber match Wednesday. Houston sits at 61-60, with the Rangers just half a game back in the AL West. A win Wednesday is crucial to holding onto that lead. Bryan King takes the mound for Houston, opposite Adrian Houser for the Giants.
