What we learned as Slater delivers in Giants’ walk-off win vs. Astros

What we learned as Slater delivers in Giants’ walk-off win vs. Astros originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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SAN FRANCISCO – Austin Slater singled off Houston reliever Rafael Montero to cap a three-run 10^th inning, as the Giants rallied to beat the Astros 4-3 on Monday night.

After nine innings of neither team being able to do much offensively, both got rolling in the 10th.

Houston scored twice off Giants reliever Erik Miller but couldn’t make it hold up in front of a roaring crowd at Oracle Park, where the Giants won for the first time since May 28.

Casey Schmitt began the 10th inning at second base and scored on Brett Wisely’s bloop hit to center. After Heliot Ramos reached on a single, Patrick Bailey singled in Wisely to tie the game.

Michael Conforto then reached on another Astros error, and after Jorge Soler hit into a fielder’s choice, Slater drove a 1-0 sinker over the head of Houston left fielder Joey Loperfido for the game-winner.

Randy Rodriguez (2-1) retired one batter to win.

Before the 10th, the Astros’ bats were kept quiet most of the night.

Kyle Harrison worked 6 1/3 mostly strong innings, while Sean Hjelle, Ryan Walker and Camilo Doval combined for 2 1/3 shutout innings before the Astros got to Miller, who two days prior recorded his first win in the majors.

San Francisco had its own offensive issues.

Until the 10th, they only managed to get two runners past second base – both coming in the sixth when San Francisco scored its first run.

Mike Yastrzemski provided the Giants with two highlights. He drove in their only run with a deep triple in the sixth, then made an outstanding diving catch in the eighth to rob pinch-hitter Jon Singleton of a hit.

The Giants ended their four-game losing streak at their waterfront ballpark, their longest skid at home this season. They have won six of the last eight games with the Astros dating to 2020.

Here are the takeaways from Monday’s game:

Harrison’s Day Ends in Seventh

Harrison pitched his way in and out of trouble most of the evening until the Astros started getting to him in the seventh inning.

Harrison retired eight of the first nine batters he faced, the lone runner reaching base on an error. Harrison then worked out of jam in the fifth after giving up a leadoff single to Jake Meyers, setting down the next three Astros in order, including a swinging strikeout of Chas McCormick, who whiffed at a wicked offspeed pitch for the final out.

Harrison threw just 77 pitches (his third-fewest of the season) and was relieved in the seventh after allowing a run and two extra-base hits. His final stat line: 6 1/3 innings, four hits, one run, three strikeouts, no walks – was decent but not enough to get Harrison the W.

Missing Matt

With third baseman Matt Chapman sitting out a second consecutive game with a hamstring issue, Schmitt was pressed into duty at the hot corner and got tested immediately. Astros leadoff hitter Jose Altuve drilled a sharp grounder that was measured at 94.9 mph straight at Schmitt, who bobbled the ball for an error.

Schmitt quickly made up for the miscue, turning a 5-4-3 double play on Houston’s next batter Alex Bregman. But he came up empty on a play in the fifth when he missed a diving attempt to snare Jake Meyers’ sharp double down the third-base line – a play that Chapman has made with relative ease several times this season.

Schmitt, who has spent most of this season playing shortstop, made a handful of solid defensive plays, including in the fourth when he ranged far to his left to snag Jeremy Pena’s grounder, spun then made a strong throw to first base for the third out of the inning.

Manager Bob Melvin said before the game that he expects Chapman back in the lineup Tuesday.

Power Outage

After homering in their previous eight games and leading the National League in home runs hit in June, the Giants’ offense in the series opener against the Astros was more like Dairy Queen ice cream: soft.

San Francisco managed nine hits – all but one of them singles.

Yastrzemski’s two-out triple to left-center in the sixth inning was one of the hardest hit balls by San Francisco and one of the few that made it out of the infield.

The situational hitting didn’t go too well, either.

San Francisco got runners into scoring position in three of the first four innings but failed to score.

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