Tell it Goodbye to the Houston Astros: A History

The National League will no longer be represented in Texas after this season. With the Giants playing their last common league game with the 'Stros today, I felt it was a good time to pay my last respects to Houston by looking back at the history between the two teams.

The Giants lead the overall series with a record of 374-343. In their first match-up, the Houston Colt 45's bested Gaylord Perry's Giants by a score of 7-0 in Houston on May, 11, 1962. The very next day, the Giants got revenge for the lopsided loss with Juan Marichal throwing a shutout in an 11-0 game. A week later, on May 18th, 1962, the 45's played their first game in San Francisco. They proved to be rude guests, beating the Boy's By the Bay 3-2.

On May 14th, 1965 the Giants played their first game against the re-branded Houston Astros. Gaylord Perry took the hill for the Giants and got some personal vengeance against the 'Stros, as he led the way in a 2-1 victory.

The Giants enjoyed their most successful season against Houston in 1965, when the Black and Orange ran up a 15-3 record. On the flip side of the coin, the year our boys would most like to forget is pretty fresh in the minds of many current Giants players as well as fans. In 2008, only Matt Cain would be able to best the Spacemen; the Giants posted a pitiful 1-7 mark. The biggest blowout the Giants ever served the Astros was on April, 13, 1991. Behind Kevin Mitchell's two homers, the Giants crushed them 16-2.

The two teams have never faced each other in the postseason, but three games stick out in my mind between the franchises:

On September 18th, 2001, The Giants lost to the Astros 3-2 after Robb Nen failed to convert a save. Earlier in the game, Andres Galarraga -- the "Big Cat" -- hit a homer over the left field bleachers. However, these are just minor footnotes. The real story of the game is how Giants fans held candles before the game to honor the people who died in the 9-11 attacks. You see, this was the first game back for the Giants after the tragedy, and it meant so much more than baseball.

On October 4th, 2001, The Giants beat the Astros 10-2 in a huge game for two teams fighting for a playoff berth. This game, however, was about one man. In his last at bat of the game, Giants superstar Barry Bonds hit his 70th homer of the season, tying the single season record.

On June 13th, 2012, Giants ace Matt Cain took the mound for the San Francisco Giants. Jordan Schafer led off the game for the lowly Astros and Cain struck him out on four pitches. Jose Altuve would go down to the strikeout on three. For years, San Francisco fans have believed that Cain was perfect. On this night, the rest of the baseball world have to agree.

For many Giants fans this will be the last time we think about the Houston Astros. Sure, we will play them every now and then, but it will be the same feeling as any other American League scrub. So tonight as you watch the game, raise a glass to NL baseball in Texas, and let's hope like hell that Vogelsong can bring us win #375 against the 'Stros.

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Giants Look to Sweep Astros: Preview, Lineups

The Giants will look to sweep the three-game series in Houston before heading to Wrigley Field tomorrow afternoon. 

Ryan Vogelsong (11-7, 2.90 ERA) will look to get back on track. Vogelsong has been struggling as of late, and will look to regain some of his early-season dominance.

The highly mediocre Jordan Lyles (3-10, 5.47 ERA) will pitch for the Astros. Lyles got his first win in over two months last Friday when he defeated the woeful New York Mets.

Bottom line is, nothing short of a sweep would be a disappointment for the Giants. 

Lineup - Giants (73-57) vs. Astros (40-90). First pitch at 5:05 PT.

CF Pagan

2B Scutaro

3B Sandoval

C Posey

RF Pence

1B Belt

LF Blanco

SS Crawford

P Vogelsong

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Zito Looks for Another Strong Start: Preview, Lineups

After a thrilling comeback win against the Astros last night, Barry Zito and the Giants will hope for a less dramatic game tonight.

Zito (10-8, 4.31 ERA) will take on Dallas Keuchel (1-6, 5.40 ERA) of the Astros. Keuchel took the loss in his previous start against the Cardinals, when he allowed five earned runs in four-plus innings.

The red hot Joaquin Arias will start at shortstop. Arias delivered a key hit last night that scored the tying run, then he himself came around to score the winning run on a Hector Sanchez single. 

Complete lineups below...

Lineups - Giants vs. Astros, 4:05 PT

San Francisco Giants (72-57)

Pagan CF
Scutaro 2B
Sandoval 3B
Posey C
Pence RF
Arias SS
Belt 1B
Peguero LF
Zito P

Houston Astros (40-89)

Altuve 2B
Greene SS
Wallace 1B
Francisco LF
Paredes RF
Snyder C
Gonzalez 3B
Barnes C
Keuchel P

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Arias, Sanchez Spark Clutch Ninth Inning Rally Leading to 3-2 Win

Joaquin Arias and Hector Sanchez each contributed pinch-hit RBI singles in the ninth to lead the Giants to a 3-2 victory over the lowly Astros.

Matt Cain yielded Houston to just two runs over 7 1/3 innings. However, the Astros stringed together a couple of base runners to regain the lead in the eighth. Cain allowed a free pass to Jonathan Paredes to leadoff the inning. Brett Wallace followed with a single, and the cleanup hitter, Jason Castro bunted them over. Though the Astros wouldn’t need a hit to take the lead, as Paredes raced home on Cain’s 3-2 wild pitch that skipped through Buster Posey’s legs.

Santiago Casilla was summoned to dampen the Astros spark. He did just that, carving his way out of the inning unscathed.

Angel Pagan continued his hot streak. Bud Norris, who surrendered just one run over 6 2/3 innings, salvaged a solo home run to Pagan in the fifth, his eighth blast of the season. Although, Pagan’s blast was answered with an Astros’ blast in the bottom half of the inning off the bat of Fernando Martinez.

The Giants only hit with runners in scoring position came from Hector Sanchez. The hit just happened to be the go-ahead run. Multiple opportunities were wasted quite simply.

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What Should the Giants Do With the Struggling Hunter Pence?

Hunter Pence has yet to exceed the expectations that were placed on him when the Giants acquired him from the Phillies. Granted, it can take awhile for a player to acclimate to a new team, new clubhouse, and new stadium, but Pence is 25 games into his brief Giants career. Plus, Melky Cabrera’s suspension adds even more pressure to the already lofty exceptions tank. Quite simply, a lineup flip is needed. And the lineup flip is very simple---Pence and Marco Scutaro should flip flop spots in the lineup.

OK, so Scutaro doesn’t exactly fit the bill of a number five hitter. He doesn’t hit for much better, and is not typically a run producer. Although, his plate discipline and ability to put the ball in play is something that Pence doesn’t have in his toolbox.

Pence has power. And it hasn’t disappeared. He has had three 20+ home runs seasons in his six year career. No, those seasons weren’t flukes either, meaning that his power outage will soon get put to rest. Eventually, it’s going to show up, but until it does, the two hole is a spot that suits him well. Not only will he see more pitches to hit with Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey batting behind him, but he can utilize his bunting skills more so than he could in the five hole. Yes, I’m referring to the sneaky but he dropped down last week to drive in a run. It’s not conventional, but hey, it worked. However, those skills would be put to better use in Scutaro’s spot because ironically, Scutaro is the one driving in runs these days (19 RBIs as a Giant).

Patience is key when batting in an RBI spot. For the Giants, though, it is seemingly a false action. The main culprits in the wild, swing at everything approach, are Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval, and Hector Sanchez. For Sandoval, the approach works. He’s used it since he became a professional, and he’s not going to stop. Pence on the other hand hasn’t found much success using the free swinging approach, at least not with San Francisco. His strikeout percentage is an inflated 20 percent, a career worst. Obviously, his walk percentage isn’t impressive either (7.8%). In result of his free swinging approach, a lot of soft contract is made--- weak ground balls, pop ups, soft fly balls, you know what I mean.

Compared to Pence, Scutaro is golden in terms of plate discipline. Heck, Scutaro is golden compared to most players in that specific department. He strikes out just eight percent of the time, and puts the ball in play nearly 95 percent of the time---the highest mark in baseball. In situations where a ground ball or fly ball scores a run, he’s precisely the perfect fit seeing that his contact rate is off the chart. Sure, home runs won’t be a common occurrence, but consistency is much more valuable to the Giants right now given their spacious home ballpark.

The Giants knew what they were getting with Pence. They knew that he wasn’t your typical hitter. They knew he was a bit quirky. They knew he isn’t patient. But what they didn’t expect, is a lack of power. To make the situation even bleaker, he only hit one home run in 22 games before being dealt to the Giants. So this prolonged streak hasn’t been just with the Giants, as it’s been more of a continuation.

Maybe returning to Houston this week will rejuvenate Pence. One thing is for sure though, the Giants need him to be huge contributor down the stretch, especially considering the move the Dodgers just made to acquire Adrain Gonzalez.

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