Luis Garcia exits early, but Astros still handle Giants

Mauricio Dubon recorded a three-hit game against his former club, and the Houston Astros survived an early loss of their starting pitcher to claim a 7-3 interleague victory over the visiting San Francisco Giants on Monday.

Dubon, who spent parts of four seasons with the Giants before joining Houston in May 2022 via trade, went 3-for-5 with two RBIs. His run-scoring single with two outs in the fifth inning knotted the score at 2-2. Dubon added an opposite-field double down the right field line in the seventh that scored Jake Meyers and ignited a five-run frame.

In the fifth, Dubon was the third consecutive batter to record a two-out single off Giants right-hander Ross Stripling, who had retired 12 consecutive batters after surrendering an RBI single to Jose Abreu in the bottom of the first. Abreu plated Dubon, who singled and stole second base leading off the inning, to spot the Astros a 1-0 lead.

The early tally represented a positive turn following an ominous start for the Astros. Right-hander Luis Garcia departed after tossing eight pitches in the top of the inning, marking the second consecutive game that Houston lost a starting pitcher to injury. Right-hander Jose Urquidy was removed with right shoulder discomfort on Sunday and landed on the 10-day injured list.

Right-hander Brandon Bielak, recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land on Monday to replace Urquidy, worked four innings of emergency relief. He allowed a two-run homer to Joc Pederson with two outs in the third but was otherwise effective, surrendering just one other hit while notching six strikeouts. Bielak logged 75 pitches and served as a bridge to the back of the Houston bullpen.

Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek (2-1), Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly kept the Giants in check over the final five innings, with Montero surrendering a homer to LaMonte Wade Jr. in the eighth as the lone blemish. A half-inning earlier, Houston sent 10 batters to the plate to snap the tie.

The uprising came against Giants reliever Sean Hjelle (1-1). Alex Bregman, Jeremy Pena and Corey Julks produced RBI singles after Dubon drove home Meyers, who worked a leadoff walk. Abreu mixed in a run-scoring groundout between walks to Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker.

The Giants suffered their fourth consecutive loss on the heels of a five-game winning streak.