Field Level Media
Aug 7, 2018
Marwin Gonzalez belted a three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning, and the visiting Houston Astros turned a late rally into a 3-1 interleague win over the San Francisco Giants on Monday at AT&T Park.
Gonzalez clubbed his 10th home run of the season off Giants left-hander Will Smith (1-2), driving home Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel, both of whom had walked. It marked the third homer on the current road trip batting right-handed for the switch-hitting second baseman.
Giants right-hander Dereck Rodriguez continued what has been a stellar rookie season, lowering his ERA to 1.06 over his past four starts with a career-best seven shutout innings.
Rodriguez surrendered just three hits and did not walk a batter while matching his season high of seven strikeouts, a mark he set in his previous start at San Diego on July 31. Rodriguez retired the final 13 batters he faced and threw 94 pitches, 66 for strikes.
The Giants needed Rodriguez to be near-flawless because Astros right-hander Charlie Morton was almost as good. Morton did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the fourth, with Giants third baseman Evan Longoria blooping a single to shallow right field.
When Morton ran into a spot of two-out trouble in the fifth, he rallied to strike out his former teammate in Pittsburgh, Giants right fielder Andrew McCutchen, with two runners in scoring position.
However, with two outs and two strikes in the sixth, Morton hung a curveball that Brandon Crawford lined into the seats about the wall in right field. Crawford covered 336 feet with his 11th home run and produced the lone blemish on the pitching ledger for Morton.
Morton allowed three hits and three walks over seven innings. In recording eight strikeouts, Morton surpassed the 163 he posted last season and set a single-season high with 167.
Missing second baseman Jose Altuve (right knee), shortstop Carlos Correa (back), and outfielder George Springer (left thumb) -- all of whom are on the 10-day disabled list -- the Astros scuffled. Before Gonzalez homered, left fielder Tony Kemp recorded the previous hit for Houston with his two-out double in the third.
Roberto Osuna (1-0) recorded the win by pitching a perfect eighth inning in his Astros debut. Hector Rondon notched his 12th save with a one-hit ninth.
--Field Level Media