San Francisco – The Giants pitching staff delivered when it mattered most Tuesday night, keeping the visiting Houston Astros offense in check in a gritty 4-1 victory at Oracle Park.
The biggest challenge was Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, who entered the contest as one of baseball’s most dangerous hitters. Alvarez carried an MLB-best .323 batting average into the matchup, along with 35 home runs and 86 RBIs.
But against the Giants, Alvarez was held without a hit as San Francisco’s pitching staff repeatedly neutralized Houston’s biggest offensive threat.
Rookie starter Carson Whisenhunt faced a Houston lineup loaded with power from top to bottom and turned in a strong performance. He struck out two and surrendered just one earned run over 5.2 innings, giving the Giants the early foundation they needed to secure the win.
For San Francisco, it was a night when pitching, timely execution and a relentless approach proved enough to silence one of the league’s most potent offenses.
“They’re good hitters but it doesn’t matter,” Whisenhunt said. “Hitting is one of the hardest things to do so just attack them and make them get themselves out.”
Alvarez drew a walk in his first appearance at the plate and found the opening score off a sacrifice fly in the second inning to put Houston up 1-0, but the offense was quickly snuffed out.
Whisenhunt found himself in a groove after cleaning up a bases loaded jam in the first and attacked Astros hitters until pitcher Carson Seymour took the mound to relieve Whisenhunt in the fifth.
“Tonight’s start wasn’t ideal, but move past that and get comfortable settling in. Having the feeling from the third to the fifth, just not overthinking or trying to do too much,” Whisenhunt said.
Seymour picked up right where Whisenhunt left off, delivering two scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and keeping the Astros off the scoreboard.
By then, San Francisco had begun to create some separation, steadily building its lead from the fourth through the sixth innings.
The Giants three-inning scoring surge began with catcher Drew Cavanaugh, who lined a single into center field to drive in a run and give San Francisco a 2-1 lead.
The Giants added to their advantage in the following inning when first baseman Bryce Eldridge launched a towering home run to left field. Eldridge took advantage of a sinker that stayed in the heart of the zone, sending it deep into the stands for his 12th homer of the season and extending San Francisco’s lead to 3-1.
The Giants offense continued to apply pressure, while their pitching staff kept Houston’s powerful lineup from mounting a comeback.
“For awhile, I feel like I’ve been missing that pitch,” said Eldridge. “It’s been really frustrating so it was good to get a hold of one.”
The move to the third spot in the batting order, sandwiched between seasoned veterans Willy Adames and Rafael Devers, has helped Eldridge find his rhythm and become more comfortable and aggressive at the plate.
“It’s nice having Rafael sitting behind you, knowing I’m going to get attacked and that’s something I’ve realized more,” Eldridge said.
Offensive consistency has been hard to come by for San Francisco this season, but the Giants kept the momentum going in the sixth inning when another scoring opportunity slipped just beyond the reach of the Astros’ left fielder.
“The two guys with the most service time, Willy and Raffy, they can’t carry the load every night,” Giants manager Tony Vitello said. “We haven’t been great in those situations as the season’s gone on. The winds haven’t teetered so much in our favor, but it did tonight.”
With two outs, Giants third baseman Christian Koss jumped on a fastball and drove it deep toward the wall. The ball sailed just beyond the reach of the Astros’ left fielder, resulting in an RBI double that extended San Francisco’s lead. An errant throw from the outfield allowed Koss to advance to third, adding another layer to the Giants scoring opportunity.
The 4-1 advantage proved too much for Houston to overcome. San Francisco’s bullpen shut the door over the final three innings, allowing just one hit and keeping the Astros’ offense off the scoreboard to secure the victory.
“I feel like our group has been responding to difficult nights like last night, and that was one of the best wins of the year, really,” said Vitello.
San Francisco improves to 50-70 and will look to close out the series against Houston on Wednesday at 12:45 p.m.
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