GIANTS DEFEAT ASTROS

Late rally falls short as Astros drop opener to San Francisco

Late rally falls short as Astros drop opener to San Francisco
The Giants beat the Astros, 7-2. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

Wilmer Flores hit his third homer of the season and drove in four runs to lead the San Francisco Giants over the Houston Astros 7-2 on Monday night.

Giants starter Jordan Hicks (1-0), who grew up in suburban Houston, allowed only a first-inning single and struck out six in six innings.

There were two on with two outs in the sixth when Flores sent a slider from Luis Contreras into the left-field seats to make it 5-0. The homer came after Flores hit an RBI single in the second to give San Francisco an early lead.

The Astros had managed just one hit and had a runner on second when Jose Altuve singled off Spencer Bivens with two outs in the eighth. Isaac Paredes then smacked a double off the wall in left field to score two runs and cut it to 5-2. Erik Miller took over and struck out Yordan Alvarez to end the inning.

Ronel Blanco (0-1), who threw a no-hitter in his season debut last year, allowed three hits and three runs with three walks in five-plus innings.

LaMonte Wade Jr. had a sacrifice fly in the fifth that made it 2-0.

Christian Walker singled with two outs in the first before Hicks retired the next 14 batters, fanning five straight. Altuve walked with one out in the sixth, but Hicks set down the next two batters to end the inning and his night.

Matt Chapman drove in two runs with a single in the ninth that made it 7-2.

Key moment

The home run by Flores that padded the lead in the sixth.

Key stat

San Francisco’s Bob Melvin managed his 200th career game against the Astros, improving to 99-101 with the victory.

Up next

RHP Hayden Wesneski makes his Houston debut against RHP Logan Webb when the series continues Tuesday night. Wesneski joined the Astros this offseason from the Chicago Cubs as part of the trade for outfielder Kyle Tucker.

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The injury bug bites again.Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images.

The Houston Astros announced on Monday that additional imaging has revealed that Jeremy Peña is dealing with a small fracture in one of his ribs.

Peña left Friday's game after being hit by a pitch in the ribs. The club originally believed they had avoided any fractures or breaks, but new information has informed them otherwise.

Peña is heading to the 10-day injured list retroactive to June 28. This news comes at an unfortunate time, with Jeremy posting the best regular season numbers of his career. He's currently slashing .322, .378, .489 with an .867 OPS.

Peña will miss the Rockies and Dodgers series at a minimum.

Let's hope the team doesn't rush him back too soon and create an even bigger problem. These quotes above from Dana Brown have me concerned. Playing through injuries can create bad habits, and Jeremy has clearly found his swing this season.

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