Giants' Defense Falters Late in 2-1 Loss to Astros

Following a brief reprieve from their woes in the form of a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday, the San Francisco Giants fell back into their losing ways after losing to Houston on Wednesday, 2-1, at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

Since the calendar turned to August, the Giants have only won three games, and their offense was no help in changing that on Wednesday.

In the first inning, the Giants actually looked pretty good when they drew three walks, and Victor Bericoto hit an RBI single.

But given that there are nine innings in baseball, there is plenty of time for the wheels to fall off, and San Francisco made sure that happened.

The run that the Giants scored thanks to Bericoto ended up being the only one they earned largely because they went 5-for 32 at the plate. To make matters worse, the Astros’ offense only mustered four hits in 27 tries, so San Francisco had a golden opportunity and did not seize it.

The Giants also struck out eight times, which took away from the five walks they drew. It was an unfortunate outcome for San Francisco as its slump at the plate ruined the chance of securing a series win for the first time this month.

For Giants fans who want a more optimistic view despite the loss (if those fans even exist at this point), the production on the mound was pretty good in their series finale against the Astros. Well, at least for Adrian Houser.

Houser got the start for San Francisco, his 15th of the season, and he provided five strikeouts while only allowing two hits and a walk across six innings of work. The problem was when the Giants’ bullpen took over, trouble occurred. 

Sam Hentges was the first reliever out of the pen, and he allowed a single before a fielding error by Bericoto put two men on for Houston. Keaton Winn replaced Hentges, and the Astros pinch hitter Nelson Velazquez tied the game with a sacrifice fly RBI.

The Giants fell behind in the top of the eighth when Winn gave up a triple to Taylor Trammell before a sacrifice fly RBI off the bat of Nick Allen scored the former. At that point, San Francisco’s offense had already given what little it had, and a one-run deficit was too much to overcome.

Next, the Giants will try to re-enter the win column when they host the Colorado Rockies on Friday.