SF Giants look to bounce back as Astros arrive at Oracle Park

The sky seemed to be falling for the San Francisco Giants last week as they entered play on Wednesday having lost six straight games.

Thanks to a strong stretch of play that saw the Giants (32-24) win three of four games —including two of three against the reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers—San Francisco will return home with the lengthy losing streak in the rearview mirror.

Injuries continue to pose a problem for the Giants, as third baseman Matt Chapman (hamstring) sat out of Sunday’s game in Texas. It’s unclear if Chapman will be placed on the injured list, but San Francisco is currently navigating the losses of shortstop Nick Ahmed (wrist), LaMonte Wade Jr. (hamstring), and Marco Luciano (hamstring) as the infield depth chart gets thinner.

Injuries or not, the season stops for no one as the Houston Astros (30-36) will arrive at Oracle Park for a three-game set that will begin on Monday night.

HELIOT, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? 😱 pic.twitter.com/BIIYeMoABt

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 8, 2024

The Astros have dominated the baseball landscape over the past seven years, but Houston has not gotten off to an ideal start in 2024.

Entering play with a record that is currently six games below the .500 mark, the Astros are 6.5 games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners in the American League West standings.

Although Houston has struggled thus far, their offense holds the second-best batting average (.260), fourth-best slugging percentage (.421), and fourth-best on-base-plus-slugging-percentage (.743) in baseball.

On the other side of the ball, San Francisco should look to pounce on an Astros pitching staff that is ranked 21st in ERA (4.23). Houston has allowed 76 home runs this season–the fifth-most in Major League Baseball.

Here are the probable pitching matchups for the first Giants-Astros series to take place at Oracle Park since 2021.

Giants vs. Astros pitching matchups & info

Monday, June 10th | Kyle Harrison (4-3, 4.18 ERA) vs. Spencer Arighetti 3-4, 6.02 ERA) | 6:45 PM PST

Tuesday, June 11th | Jordan Hicks (4-2, 2.82 ERA) vs. Ronel Blanco (5-2, 2.78 ERA) | 6:45 PM PST

Wednesday, June 12th | Logan Webb (5-5, 2.92 ERA) vs. Framber Valdez (5-3, 3.53 ERA) | 12:45 PM PST

That Heliot Ramos is so hot right now 🔥 pic.twitter.com/A92ga3UvpI

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 8, 2024

Who’s Hot?

Heliot Ramos has been playing out of his mind in June.

The 24-year-old has taken advantage of his boost in playing time in recent weeks, hitting .329 to go along with six home runs, 18 RBI, and 12 walks over his past 20 games.

Ramos is now up to 23 RBI (fourth-most on the Giants) and six home runs (sixth-most on SF) on the season over just 29 games played (11th most among Giants hitters).

Upcoming schedule for the San Francisco Giants

• Monday, June 10th-Wednesday, June 12th – vs. Houston Astros
• Friday, June 14-Sunday, June 16th – vs. Los Angeles Angels
• Monday, June 17th-Wednesday, June 19th – @ Chicago Cubs
• Thursday, June 20th-Sunday, June 23rd – @ St. Louis Cardinals
• Monday, June 24th-Thursday, June 27th – vs. Chicago Cubs

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