TONIGHT’S GAME: The first-place Astros finish up their six-game West Coast road trip this afternoon as LHP Bryan King will make his first career start in the rubber match at Oracle Park.
The Giants will sending out former Astro RHP Adrian Houser (3-7) to start the series finale.
THE TURNAROUND: After a slow start to the season, the Astros are 41-29 since May 22, which is the second best record in the AL in that span.
On that date, the Astros were 20-31, 11 games under, which is their low water mark
for the season.
THAT’S OFFENSIVE: The Astros lead the AL in SLG (.412), while ranking second in OPS (.732), home runs (162) and hits (996).
In the Majors, the Astros rank third in homers, trailing only the Nationals (174) and Yankees (167).
OPENING FESTIVITIES: LHP Bryan King will work as an opener for the Astros this afternoon, marking his first career Major League start.
Today marks the second use of an opener by the Astros this season, as LHP Steven Okert started and tossed 0.2 of an inning on May 4 vs. LAD.
King last pitched on Sunday at SD and ranks third on the Astros with 47 appearances this season.
Today’s start will also be King’s first professional start, as all 86 of his career minor league games have also been in relief.
ROAD WARRIORS: The Astros close out their six-game road trip this afternoon needing a victory to go 3-3 on their visit to the West Coast, which also included a stop in San Diego.
Houston has gone 24-16 (.600) on their last five road trips and are 30-22 (.577) on the road since going 1-9 on their first road trip of the season Houstonis 31-31 overall on the road in 2026.
THE LINEUP: The Astros have used 119 different lineups in their 121 games, repeating a lineup just twice on the season.
DH Yordan Alvarez has the most starts at any spot in the lineup among Astros, hitting second 108 times.
LAST NIGHT’S GAME: The Astros had their three-game series in San Francisco evened last night with a 4-1 loss to the Giants at Oracle Park.
DH Yordan Alvarez (0x1, RBI, BB, HBP) drove in the Astros’ run with a sacrifice fly in the 2nd inning.
3B Isaac Paredes (2×4) logged his third multi-hit game through five games this road trip…RHP Hunter Brown (5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) made his 12th start of the season and was dealt just his second losing decision of the year.
VS. THE GIANTS: The Astros have a long history with the Giants, having played them 743 times, their second-most against a single opponent, trailing only the Reds (860g).
This series marks the Astros’ first trip to Oracle Park since June 10-12, 2024 (Giants went 2-1).
The Astros have a pair of players who spent portions of their Major League careers with the Giants in LHP Steven Okert (2016-18) and OF LaMonte Wade Jr. (2021-25).
CAM JAM: RF Cam Smith has homered three times and logged two three-hit games through his first four appearances of this current road trip, including his fourth career multi-homer game last Friday at SD.
So far this road trip, Smith has batted .467 (7×15) with six runs, three homers and four RBI…he has also hit safely in nine of his last 11 games (since July 29 at LAA), batting .425 (17×41) with 11 runs, two doubles, one triple, three home runs, eight RBI and a 1.174 OPS over that stretch.
In the AL since July 29, he ranks first in OPS and third in batting average (min. 40 AB).
YESTERDAY’S MOVES: OF Nelson Velázquez (No. 30) reported to the Major League team yesterday and made his Astros debut with a start in LF.
To make room for Velázquez on the active roster, the Astros optioned OF Jake Meyers to Triple A Sugar Land following Monday’s game.
Velázquez, 27, has played in 229 career games at the Major League level, appearing with the Cubs (2022-23), Royals (2023-24) and Cardinals (2026), along with the Astros.
Velázquez owns a career .731 OPS vs. left-handed pitching in the Majors.
MVP-CALIBER: Yordan Alvarez holds a share of the lead in all AL Triple Crown categories, ranking first in batting average (.322), T-1st in HR (35), and RBI (87).
Additionally, he leads MLB in OPS (1.058), OBP (.435), SLG (.623), and TB (269).
In the AL, he ranks first in hits (139), extra-base hits (60) and runs (80), and is tied for second in walks (83).
HADERADE: LHP Josh Hader has been stellar since returning from injury in early June, going 4-1 with a 1.00 ERA (3ER/27IP), 38 strikeouts, a .110 opponent batting average (10×91) and a 0.74 WHIP, while also converting all 16 of his save opportunities.
Since being reinstated from the IL on June 3, he ranks second in opponent batting average (.110), third in SO/9 (12.67) and fifth in ERA among AL relievers (min. 25 IP).
THREES COMPANY: 2B Jose Altuve enters today’s game with 224 career games of 3+ hits, which is just one game of 3+ hits from tying Hall of Famer Craig Biggio (225) for the most in Astros franchise history.
Altuve has multiple hits in six of his last 13 games (since July 28 at LAA), batting .319 (15×47) with a .781 OPS in that span.
BEET RED HOT: OF Taylor Trammell has posted a .965 OPS (.404 OBP/.561 SLG) with 10 runs, one double, four home runs, eight RBI and nine walks in his last 13 games (since July 26 at CWS).
His .965 OPS since July 26 ranks eighth among AL players in that span (min. 50 PA).
BIG WES: RHP Hayden Wesneski parroted the first two successful outings of his season by matching his career high of 7.0 innings in Monday’s win, allowing three runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Wesneski has gone 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA (8ER/18.2IP) through his first three starts of the season after missing 14 months due to Tommy John surgery.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, August 12, 2:45 p.m. CT
Location: Oracle Park, San Francisco, CA
TV: Space City Home Network
Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
