Houston @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( May 23, 2018 ) San Francisco 1, Houston 4

The injury bug continues to plague the Houston Astros, who begin a brief two-game interleague series against the host San Francisco Giants on Monday. George Springer suffered a left thumb injury in Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers and could join a star-studded disabled list that includes Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Lance McCullers Jr.

Springer homered to begin Sunday’s contest but left in the third inning after sliding head-first into second base, and the Dodgers went on to snap the Astros’ four-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory. Tony Kemp belted a solo homer for Houston, which took two of three from Los Angeles but saw its lead over second-place Oakland in the American League West shrink to four games. San Francisco kept alive its playoff hopes by securing its first winning road trip of the season (4-2) with Sunday’s 3-2 victory in Arizona. Evan Longoria belted a tie-breaking homer in the eighth inning and is batting .357 with two doubles, a triple and two blasts in 10 games since returning from a broken hand on July 26.

TV: 10:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network, AT&T SportsNet-Southwest (Houston), NBCS Bay Area (San Francisco)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Charlie Morton (12-2, 2.90 ERA) vs. Giants RH Dereck Rodriguez (5-1, 2.59)

Morton helped the Astros snap a season-high five-game losing streak with a solid outing on Tuesday, when he allowed two runs while striking out eight over six innings against Seattle. The 34-year-old has gone 26-9 with a 3.29 ERA in 46 starts since joining Houston at the beginning of last season. Morton owns a 4-4 record and 2.59 ERA in 12 career starts against San Francisco, going 2-2 with a 3.82 mark in six outings at AT&T Park.

Rodriguez has entered the National League Rookie of the Year discussion after going 3-0 with a 1.49 ERA over his last seven games (six starts). The son of Hall-of-Famer Ivan Rodriguez tossed a career-high seven innings against San Diego on Tuesday, allowing one run and three hits while striking out seven. The 26-year-old, who is facing Houston for the first time, owns an impressive 54-to-18 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 66 frames this season.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Giants are 44-13 when scoring at least four runs and 13-43 when registering three or fewer.

2. Altuve (knee) has been ruled out for the series against San Francisco and will return to Houston to be examined by team doctors.

3. San Francisco C Buster Posey (concussion protocol) returned to the lineup Sunday after missing one game and went 1-for-3 while starting at first base.

PREDICTION: Giants 5, Astros 4