Giants 3, Astros 1
SAN FRANCISCO -- First baseman Brandon Belt backed the 12-strikeout, complete-game pitching of left-hander Madison Bumgarner with two home runs Tuesday night, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros in the opener of a two-game interleague series.
In a matchup of the teams with the two best records in interleague play this season, the Giants recorded their 10th win in their last 12 meetings with the Astros.
Bumgarner outpitched Astros ace Scott Kazmir, who surrendered both of Belt's homers and also hurt his own cause with two errors, one of which led to an unearned run.
In winning for the fifth time in his last six starts, Bumgarner (13-6) went the distance, allowing one run on five hits. He did not walk a batter.
The complete game was his second of the season.
The 12 strikeouts included a San Francisco-era, record-tying seven in a row, which propelled Bumgarner to his fourth double-digit effort of the season and 21st of his career.
Belt's homers, both solo shots, came in the fourth and sixth innings, producing the Giants' first two runs of the game.
The second, which came with one out in the sixth, was his 17th of the season, matching his career-best set previously in 2013.
Belt, who also had a two-homer game on Aug. 1 at Texas, now has three multiple-homer games in his career.
The Giants, who snapped a four-game losing streak, added a second run in the sixth inning, making it 3-0, thanks to two misplays by Kazmir.
First, the pitcher took too much time after fielding a topper in front of the plate by left fielder Justin Maxwell and threw late to first base. Maxwell was credited with a two-out hit.
Second baseman Ehire Adrianza followed with a similar grounder in front of the plate. This time, Kazmir pounced on it quickly but threw wildly past first baseman Chris Carter.
When the ball also eluded right fielder Jake Marisnick, who was backing up on the play, Maxwell was able to come all the way around to score the unearned run, making it 3-0.
That ended the night for Kazmir (6-7), who gave up three runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out three.
The Astros, who lost their fourth straight and fell to 1-7 on their current trip, ended Bumgarner's shutout bid in the seventh after a one-out triple by left fielder Evan Gattis.
Bumgarner struck out third baseman Jed Lowrie for the second out, but Carter followed with an RBI single, plating Gattis and pulling the Astros within 3-1.
Belt and Astros shortstop Jose Altuve, who had a pair of singles, were the only players in the game with multiple hits.
Despite the loss, the Astros (10-3) retained baseball's best record in interleague play. The Giants improved to 11-5.
Bumgarner's streak of strikeouts began after he'd allowed singles to the Astros' first two batters of the game -- Altuve and center fielder Carlos Gomez.
Catcher Buster Posey helped him his batterymate out of the first inning unscathed, throwing out Altuve trying to steal third base.
Bumgarner struck out the rest of the Astros lineup in order, a streak that bridged the first, second and third innings and equaled the franchise's West Coast-era record held jointly by Juan Marichal (1964) and Jonathan Sanchez (2003).
The Giants, meanwhile, stranded baserunners in scoring position in the second and third innings before Belt's leadoff blast in the fourth. It was his 16th homer of the season, tying him with Posey for second-most on the club behind shortstop Brandon Crawford.
NOTES: The Giants were playing their fifth game in a stretch of 26 straight against teams currently .500 or better. San Francisco entered the game 23-26 against teams over .500. ... Before the game, the Giants placed CF Angel Pagan (patella tendinitis in right knee) on the 15-day disabled list and recalled OF Juan Perez from Triple-A Sacramento. ... Giants LF Nori Aoki passed a concussion test Tuesday and was eligible to play, but was nonetheless kept out of the starting lineup. Aoki got hit in the head by a pitch Sunday in Chicago. ... Giants C Andrew Susac (sprained right thumb) began an injury-rehab stint at Class A San Jose on Tuesday night. ... The Astros announced a minor league trade before the game. They dealt former two-time minor league All-Star RHP Jason Stoffel to the Baltimore Orioles for cash considerations. The reliever had been 4-2 in 35 games at Triple-A Fresno.