Series 22 (of 52) Preview: Astros visit San Francisco

Houston will play three games in San Francisco against the Giants, starting with tonight’s game at 8:45 p.m. CT.

This series is the only one this season between the Astros and the Giants. Houston will return home after this series to face the Detroit Tigers three times, then leave to play three games on the road against the Chicago White Sox.

Houston and San Francisco faced each other 737 times in the regular season, with the Astros winning 48% of the time (353-382). That’s Houston’s career record against an NL West opponent. They are worse against the Los Angeles Dodgers (329-396) and Arizona Diamondbacks (67-79) and better against the San Diego Padres (318-291) and Colorado Rockies (104-85).

The last time these two teams faced each other was May 1-3 last season, with the Astros winning the first game before losing the final two games of the set. In Houston’s only win of the series, on May 1, the Astros relied on a five-run, seventh-inning outburst for an eventual 7-3 triumph. Mauricio Dubón led the offense with two singles and a double, while Jeremy Peña was the only other Astro with multiple hits. The game was also notable in that it was Luis Garcia’s final MLB appearance to date. Ryne Stanek (2-1, 3.60) earned the win in relief, with a perfect seventh inning.

I hope he comes back relatively soon. We don’t know when. Just use the best available. — Dusty Baker

History would soon tell us that he would not have returned “relatively soon” and that JP France was the “best available”.

Houston is coming off a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels, winning twice before losing the finale on Sunday. In Houston’s final victory Saturday, Hunter Brown (2-5, 5.58) earned the victory with six shutout innings on two hits. He walked four and struck out seven. Every Houston player in the lineup had at least one hit except Jose Abréu. Yordan Alvarez collected three extra-base hits to lead the way, including his 13th walk of the season. Jose Altuve also had two hits in the game.

I think at this point we have a lot of guys that have playoff experience, that have been through those moments. We played some good baseball and I think there’s going to be a time where we’re all going to click and when it’s all said and done, we’ll be the ones to have the last laugh. — Alvarez

Meanwhile, the Giants fell one win short of the sweep against the Texas Rangers, winning twice before losing 3-1 in yesterday’s finale. In their last win, also a 3-1 game, Heliot Ramos was the only San Francisco player to finish with more than one hit, collecting all three of the Giants’ RBIs. Erik Miller (1-2, 3.60) earned the win with a scoreless inning of work, striking out two. Camilo Doval made his 11th save of the year.

I just trust my plan. Confidence happens every time you make things happen. I just try to trust it every day and trust that the plan I come up with is going to work. -Ramos

Ranking

Houston Astros: 30-36, .455, 6.5 games back and in third place in the AL West. 12th in the American League and 24th in the MLB. At the rate of 74-88. Fangraphs projects 83-79 and a 40.9 percent chance of reaching the playoffs. Last 10: WLWLWWLWWL.

San Francisco Giants: 32-34, .485, 9.0 games back and in third place in the NL West. tied for sixth in the National League and 15th in MLB with the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. On pace for 79-83. Fangraphs projects 81-81 and a 33.6 percent chance of reaching the playoffs. Last 10: LLLLLLWWWL.

Game times and starting pitchers

Monday, 8:45 p.m. CT: Spencer Arrighetti (3-5, 5.79) vs. Kyle Harrison (4-3, 4.18)
Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. CT: Ronel Blanco (5-2, 2.78) vs. Jordan Hicks (4-2, 2.82)
Wednesday, 2:45 p.m. CT: Framber Valdez (5-3, 3.53) vs. Logan Webb (5-5, 2.92)

Heroes and zeros (five highest and lowest WPAs against the Angels)

Yordan Alvarez 49.5
Jose Altuve 40.8
Hunter Brown 30.1
Framber Valdez 29.0
Chas McCormick 17.5

Yainer Diaz -11.5
Justin Verlander -22.9
Jérémie Peña -24.6
Josh Hader -27.7
Ryan Pressly -39.5