Giants Take Series with Astros with 5-3 Win in San Fran

After an epic slugfest yesterday in which the Giants slammed five homers and the Astros three, the two teams toned it down a bit, but two Giants homers still amounted to the difference in their 5-3 win over the Astros.

The Astros did most of their damage right away on a two-run homer by Yuli Gurriel in the first inning, his 12th of the year.

But in the third, the Giants began their comeback with a home run by Kris Bryant in his first game as a Giant. They added two more that inning on a Brandon Crawford single scoring Mike Yastremski, and on a Darin Ruf single that scored Buster Posey.

The Giants added two more in the fifth on a Darrin Ruf homer scoring Crawford.

The Astros managed only one more run in the eighth after Yordan Alvarez, who subbed for injured Michael Brantley, (ankle) led off with a double and scored on a double-play ground out by Kyle Tucker.

Luis Garcia seems to be advancing further into regression. His stat line today looks almost identical to his last game in Seattle where he gave up five runs in 4.2 innings. He did that today on eight hits, two homers, two walks, and seven K’s.

With back-to-back terrible starts by Zack Greinke and Garcia, as well as the recent regression of Framber Valdez, the Astros starting pitching suddenly appears like it might not be the strength it once appeared to be.

The new-fangled bullpen performed admirably, however, with newly acquired Rafael Montero and Phil Maton posting scoreless innings, as well as Ryne Stanek.

The new starting center fielder, Chas McCormick had two hits, but Gurriel led the team with three, and his .324 BA is second on the team behind Brantley. And the newest Astro, Jake Meyers, made his MLB debut. I won’t mention the outcome.

The Astros head south into even more hostile territory as they face the Dodgers Tuesday in LA. Game time 9:10 CDT.

Box score and videos HERE.