Houston is hot!

The temperature has reached 100 degrees for 20 straight days in the Space City, and now the baseball team has heated up as well. The Astros topped the Giants 7-5 last night for their fourth straight victory. Those of us that have been waiting for Jose Altuve to show off his power and speed got their wish in the bottom of the first inning. All it took was for Brad Mills to insert the rookie second baseman into the leadoff spot.

Altuve greeted Giants starter Madison Bumgarner with a deep drive off the wall in left-center. The diminutive one was able to circle the bases before the Giants outfielders even knew what hit them.  Altuve ignored the stop sign put up by third base coach Dave Clark and legged out his first big league homer. Fellow rookie J.D. Martinez provided much of the offense, driving in four runs with a double and a homerun. Twenty year-old starter Jordan Lyles pitched five innings to pick up the win as youth was the order of the day. Houston took a 5-0 lead in the third inning and the Giants were unable to come back. San Francisco did make it interesting with a pair of runs in the ninth before Mark Melancon came in and slammed the door.

The injury riddled Giants send Dan Runzler to the mound today as they try to avoid a sweep. Houston counters with another rookie. Henry Sosa is looking for his first win after coming up short in his first two big league starts.