Category: MLB

Houston Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco works the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Jun 11, 2024 (AP News photo)

Houston (31-37). 001 020 000. 3. 7. 0

San Francisco (33-34). 001 000 000 1. 3. 1

Time: 2:16

Attendance: 32,853

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–Fresh off their exhilarating ten inning rabbit out of the hat triumph over the visiting Houston Astros on Monday night, the Giants were three hit by four Houston pitchers on Tuesday, foiling the home team’s attempt to return to the .500 mark and generally dampening the spirits at 24 Willie Mays Plaza.

Matt Chapman was back in the Giants’ lineup after missing two games because of a hamstring injury.. He made a nifty grab and throw to get José Altuve out on the very first play of the game but later on made a crucial throwing error. At the plate, he went 0-4 ending his 25 game on base streak.

Jordan Hicks, who went seven innings and yielded only one earned run and was the winning pitcher in San Francisco’s home opener back in April, brought a 4-2, 2.82 record to this game. He uses the sinker a little more than half the time and also throws the split finger fastball, sweeper, and the four seamer.

This is a bit paradoxical because opposing hitters had a .292 batting average against his sinker before today, while .182 was the best they could muster against any of his other deliveries. On this warm Tuesday evening, the 27 year old righty started out strong but couldn’t get through the fifth inning.

He lasted 4-2/3, in which he allowed three runs, all earned but one, at least that could have been avoided with a better defense, on five hits and a walk while striking out five. He lost his third game against four wins and saw his ERA rise to 3.01. He had exhibited flu like symptoms before the game, and they might have been a factor in his performance.

Ronel Blanco, who signed with the Astros as an undrafted free agent in April 2016 and worked his way through their system, mainly as a reliever, to become a 4-A player in 2022. After earning a steady spot on their roster, he seems to have established himself as a member of the big team’s rotation.

Blanco certainly acquitted himself well this evening, holding the Giants to a single run, earned, in six full innings of work, the 21st century equivalent of a complete game. He allowed three hits, one for all the bases, and a walk while striking out eight. His pitch count reached 96, 57 for balls. The win left him with a balance sheet of 6-2, 2.67.

Houston jumped to an early lead in their half of the third on Mauricio Dubón’s leadoff automatic double that escaped The Curse when he advanced to third on Victor Caratini’s ground out to short and scored on Altuve’s ditto to second. San Francisco got that run back in their half of the frame. Brett Wisely did it with his second round tripper of the season, a 385 foot solo shot t0 right that came off a 93 mph four seam fastball.

The top of the fifth was Hicks’ undoing. It wasn’t entirely his fault. Trey Cabbage led off with a single to right and advanced 180 feet on Dubón’s two bagger off the centerfield wall. Cabbage scored on Alex Bregman’s infield hit to third, on which Chapman made a nice play.

A nice play but marred by an errant throw that allowed Dubón to scamper home with Houston’s third run of the game. That ended Hicks’ work before the sun had set on McCovey Cove. Taylor Rogers entered the game and stayed on until Sean Hjelle replaced him to open the seventh with Houston still ahead, 3-1.

Hjelle stayed on for two innings, retiring all six batters he faced. Luke Jackson allowed a single in the top of the ninth but faced only three batters thanks to an inning ending 5-6-3 double play, something we hadn’t seen since the exaggerated shift was outlawed.

Tayler Scott took over for Blanco in the Giants’ half of the fatidic fifth, held the Giants to a walk, and gave way to Bryan Abreu in the eighth, who set the orange and black down in order in spite of hard line drives off the bats of Wisely and Ramos.

San Francisco sent the heart of the order—Bailey, Chapman, and Conforto—against Ryan Pressly, who was attempting to achieve his second save in seven opportunities. He earned it with a line out followed by two Ks.

The rubber game of this series will start Wednesday at 12:45. The ace of the Giants’ staff, Logan Webb (5-5, 2.92) will try to ensnare the Astros, who will counter with Framber Valdez (5-3, 3.53).

San Francisco Giants Jorge Soler (2) is congratulated by Thairo Estrada (right) on scoring on a triple hit by Mike Yastrzemski in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Houston Astros on Mon Jun 10, 2024 at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

Houston (30-37). 000 000 100 2. 3 9. 1

San Francisco (33-34) 000 001 000 3. 4. 9 1. 10 (10 innings)

Time: 2:46

Attendance: 32,820

Monday, June 10, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–The orange and black returned to Oracle Park Monday evening after completing a week long trip in which they split six games, leaving them at 32-34, still stuck two games under .500. Monday night’s exciting come from behind win brought them a giant step closer in their quest for a winning season, which, as things stand now, could qualify them for the playoffs.

Southpaw Kyle Harrison, a member of what currently is the Giants’ three man rotation, started Monday night after having lost his last two starts and saddled with a record of 4-3, 4.18. Although highly promising, the sophomore southpaw is no Spahn or Sain, and the weather service doesn’t predict three days of rain.

Nevertheless, Harrison was excellent in his 6-1/3 inning tenure on the mound. He allowed one run, earned, on four hits, half of which came in the seventh frame. He struck out three ‘stros and didn’t walk any. He had to settle for a no decision that shank his ERA to 3.96.

The Astros’ media guide, published during spring training, started off its thumbnail biography of right hander Spencer Arrighetti by calling him the team’s “top pitching prospect.” This evening they called on him to start against the Giants. He was Houston’s sixth round draft choice in the 2021 draft and rose quickly through their farm system from the rookie level Florida Complex League that summer to the AAA Sugarland Space Cowboys last year.

Over his three year minor league apprenticeship he went 19-15, 4. 44 with an opponents’ batting average of .229. About two thirds of his appearances were as a starter. In the bigs, he was 3-5, 5.79 when he came to work Monday evening.

That’s a small sample, and not an impressive one. It might have been better if he hadn’t been forced to leave his last start after three innings when a line drive bruised his left calf. That was on June 4, so the injury wasn’t serious enough to make him miss a start.

Monday evening, he pitched up to his hype, not down to his record. The youngster went 5-2/3 frames and, like Harrison, allowed but one run, also earned, and four hits. He walked three and struck out a half a dozen of his opponents. 61 of his 99 offerings went in the strike column, and he lowered his earned run average to a still elevated 5.33.

Harrison started out strong. Only nine Astros came to bat in the first three innings. The only one who reached base was the pesky José Altuve, who did so by leading off with a grounder to third that Casey Schmitt, subbing for the ailing Matt Chapman, couldn’t handle. Schmitt was charged with an error, and Altuve was erased when Alex Bergman bounced into an around the horn double play two pitches later. Schmitt looked good on that and subsequent plays.

Arrighetti held the Giants at bay until the sixth, yielding only three hits and an equal number of walks until Mike Yastrzemsky drove Jorge Soler, who had walked, blasted a triple off the 415 foot marker in right center field to break up what had been a scoreless tie. That was the end of the line for Arrighetti. Seth Martínez replaced him on the mound and got the third out, a grounder to third by Thairo Estrada.

Houston retied the score in a similar fashion in their next turn at bat. Their triple to right was a leadoff blow by Yordán Alvarez, who scored when the next batter, Jeremy Peña, lifted a sacrifice fly to deep center field. Jake Meyers smacked a double down the left field line that sent Harrison to the showers. Sean Hjelle replaced him and got consecutive ground outs to short to limit the damage.

Tayler Scott set San Francisco down in order in the home seventh and allowed just a walk in the eighth.

Ryan Walker took over for Hjelle in the top of the eighth. Pinch hitter Jon Singleton greeted him with a hard hoit sinking liner to right, where Yastrzemki made a spectacular somersaulting catch to rob Singleton of extra bases. Walker allowed a single to Victor Caratrini, but back to back ground outs to third by Altuve and Bregman ended the threat.

The top of the ninth brought out the light and sound show of a Camilo Doval performance. Thanks to a walk to Peña and an infield single by Mauricio Dubón, followed by a two out wild pitch, Doval almost threw the game away. But he got his third strikeout of the frame, fanning Abreu and taking us into the bottom of the ninth with the score still knotted at one all.

Now it was up to Josh Hader to keep Houston’s hopes alive. He did, allowing only a two out pinch hit single to Wilmer Flores.

The tenth frame began with Erik Miller on the mound for the Giants and Joey Loperfido, running for Abreu, placed on second for the Astros. Cabbage laid down a bunt, Miller fielded it and threw to Flores at first.Umpire John Libka called him out.

Houston challenged the call. New York overturned it, giving the ‘stros runners on the corners with none down. Caratini hit a sacrifice fly that brought in Loperfido with the leading run. Cabbage stole second and went to third on Altuve’s bunt single. Bregman’s single to center made it 3-1 when Cabbage crossed the plate. Randy Rodríguez took over for Miller and got the final out, a grounder to third.

But the Giants weren’t dead yet. Rafael Montero came in to pitch for Houston. Schmitt was placed on second. He scored on Brett Wisely’s single to right center.Héliot Ramos drove a hard shot towards short that Peña let get by him for an error that scored Wisely and drew the Giants to within a run of tying things up.

Patrick Bailey shot a single to center, putting Ramos on second representing the potential winning run. Montero’s failure to handle Conforto’s comebacker loaded the bases, bringing up Soler. He hit a fly to deep left that would have been an extra base hit if Bailey’s crossing the plate with the winning run didn’t end the game, which made Soler’s RBI shot a count as a single.

The win went to Rodriguez, who threw three pitches. He’s now 2-1, 3.05. Montero was charged with his third blown save and his second loss against one win,

The three game series will resume Tuesday, evening at 6:45. Ronel Blanco (5-2, 2.78) will start for Houston, and Jordan Hicks (4-2, ERA 2.82) will be throwing for San Francisco, Monday night’s thrilling roller coaster ride will be a hard act to follow.