The Houston Astros fell to the San Francisco Giants 4-1 on Tuesday night at Oracle Park, squandering several scoring opportunities early in the contest. The defeat was compounded by an injury to second baseman Jose Altuve, who departed the game after being struck by a pitch on his left foot in the first inning. Altuve’s exit forced the Astros to make a defensive substitution, with Nick Allen taking over at the position. The team announced the injury as a left foot contusion.
Houston’s offense showed promise in the opening innings despite the setback. With bases loaded and one out in the first, the Astros stranded five runners through the second inning. Yordan Alvarez provided the team’s lone run on a sacrifice fly, extending his season total to 87 RBIs. However, those early opportunities went to waste as the Giants answered back quickly.
Giants pitcher Carson Whisenhunt recovered from a shaky start to dominate the Astros. After throwing 55 pitches in his first two innings while managing bases-loaded situations, he settled down considerably and retired 11 consecutive batters. He ultimately allowed just four hits while striking out two. San Francisco added runs in the second and fourth innings, then pulled away when Bryce Eldridge connected for a solo home run off Astros starter Hunter Brown in the sixth inning.
The loss offered one silver lining for Houston, as both the Rangers and Mariners lost their respective games, preventing the Astros from losing ground in the division standings. The teams will meet again Wednesday afternoon for the series finale.
Originally reported by Sports.yahoo →
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