Bud Norris (5-6, 4.71) vs Matt Cain (9-3, 2.62)
Without making the obvious and overused reference to Matt Cain's last outing against the Astros... they did better this time. But ultimately, not well enough. Houston loses, 3-2, for their 13th consecutive road loss - one shy of the franchise record. They're now 9-35 on the road, and 33-56 overall.
*Bud Norris' last appearance before his hometown crowd in San Fran was an injury-shortened debacle - 3 R in 3.1 IP back on June 12. He did much better this time around, turning in a quality start with 3 R over 6 IP, and giving Houston every opportunity to win the ballgame. But he still got tagged for the loss, with a 6 IP / 5 H / 3 R / 3 ER / 6 BB / 6 K line. Fernando Rodriguez and Wesley Wright teamed up for two scoreless innings in relief, with 2 H, 0 BB, and 2 K.
Observations:
*Marwin Gonzalez, back from the DL in place of the fallen Jed Lowrie, provided Houston's first baserunner with a leadoff double in the 3rd, after two perfect innings by Matt Cain (*cough*). Marwin would be the only Astro with multiple hits today, going 2 for 4 with a run scored.
*Chris Johnson had an RBI double in the 4th to tie the score at 2, ending his day 1 for 4 with a K.
*Jose Altuve got his 98th hit of the year, going 1 for 4, but his average still dropped to .297 - its lowest point since he was at .292 on April 13, 7 games into the season.
*Brian Bogusevic had Houston's Only Other Hit™, going 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
*As a team, the Astros struck out 9 times against Giants pitching, led by J.D. Martinez's 3 Ks.
*The Astros will play the Giants again August 28-30 @ MMP, but this was Houston's final game at AT&T Park as a National League franchise.
Turning Point:
After a sketchy first inning in which two Giants runs scored and they left the bases loaded, Bud settled down and the Astros battled back to tie the score by the halfway mark. But that was short-lived, as Pablo Sandoval led off the bottom of the 5th with a double and Buster Posey drove him in with a single immediately after. That set the score at 3-2, which is how the game would end.
Man of the Match:
Marwin Gonzalez. At least for today, he made sure that Houston did not miss Lowrie's bat.
Goat of the Game:
J.D. Martinez. He's generally been one of Houston's better hitters in the last month (.793 OPS since June 16), but 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts from the cleanup spot won't cut it.
