Astros Fall to Giants as Jose Altuve Exits Early

The Houston Astros had their chances early Tuesday night. They just couldn’t cash them in.

Houston went hitless in five plate appearances with the bases loaded over the first two innings and managed only five hits in a 4-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park, evening the three-game series at one game apiece. 

The Astros loaded the bases with one out in the first inning against Giants left-hander Carson Whisenhunt but came away empty. They filled them again with nobody out in the second, when Jeremy Peña grounded into a force play at home before Yordan Alvarez’s sacrifice fly brought home Cam Smith for Houston’s only run. Isaac Paredes then flew out to end the threat.

From there, Houston’s offense largely disappeared. The Astros did not put another runner in scoring position and collected just two hits over the final seven innings. Paredes finished with two of Houston’s five hits, while Peña, Alvarez, and Christian Walker combined to go 0-for-10.

Hunter Brown kept the Astros within striking distance but wasn’t as sharp as he has been recently. Brown allowed three runs on five hits over five innings, walking three and striking out four. Drew Gilbert drove in San Francisco’s first run in the second, Drew Cavanaugh gave the Giants a 2-1 lead in the fourth, and Bryce Eldridge made it 3-1 with a 423-foot solo home run in the fifth.

The Giants added another run against Enyel De Los Santos in the sixth when Christian Koss doubled home Cavanaugh. Bennett Sousa and AJ Blubaugh kept San Francisco off the board the rest of the way, but the Astros never mounted another threat.

Nelson Velázquez made his Astros debut after being claimed off waivers Monday and went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. His first opportunity came with the bases loaded in the first inning, but he grounded out to end the inning. LaMonte Wade Jr. pinch-hit for Velázquez in the eighth and singled.

The larger concern coming out of the loss may be Jose Altuve, who was hit on the left foot by an 82 mph slider from Whisenhunt in the first inning. He remained in the game initially and played defense in the bottom of the inning, but Nick Allen replaced him in the second after the pain worsened.

Initial imaging was negative for a fracture, but manager Joe Espada said Altuve will undergo additional imaging Wednesday because of the soreness. “We’re going to take another one tomorrow just because of how sore this is,” Espada said.

Altuve said after the game that he had hoped the discomfort would improve after staying in the game but instead it became worse. “I didn’t want to do anything stupid and we decided to come out of the game,” Altuve said.

His status for Wednesday night’s series finale is uncertain, an unwelcome development for an Astros offense already struggling to generate consistent production. Houston has now lost five of its last eight games and scored two runs or fewer in four of those losses.

Despite the loss, the Astros remain a half-game ahead of the Texas Rangers in the American League West after the Rangers lost Tuesday to the Angels. Houston enters Wednesday’s series finale at 61-60.

The Astros will try to take the series Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park—and hope for encouraging news on Altuve’s left foot.

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