Jordan Hicks twirled six shutout innings, Wilmer Flores socked his third home run and the visiting San Francisco Giants defeated the Houston Astros 7-2 on Monday in the opener of a three-game interleague series.
Hicks (1-0), a Houston native, retired 14 consecutive batters during one stretch. He allowed one hit, issued two walks and recorded six strikeouts in his season debut and first start since being moved to the bullpen last July.
Hicks’ first 20 appearances in 2024 came as a starter before a career-high innings total coupled with fatigue led to his switch to a relief role.
After yielding two baserunners in the bottom of the first inning on Monday, Hicks quickly found a groove. He retired Yainer Diaz on a flyout to center field to close the first and strand runners on the corners. That initiated his run of dominance, as Hicks retired Jeremy Pena, Cam Smith and Mauricio Dubon — all on called third strikes — in the second.
Hicks breezed through the third, fourth and fifth innings. Jose Altuve worked a one-out walk in the sixth before Hicks induced Isaac Paredes and Yordan Alvarez to fly out to left. Paredes, in the first, was the lone baserunner to reach scoring position against Hicks.
Before Flores deposited a 2-1 slider from Astros reliever Luis Contreras into the left field seats with two outs in the sixth for a three-run shot, the Giants utilized their speed to carve out a 2-0 lead off Houston right-hander Ronel Blanco (0-1).
Heliot Ramos and Mike Yastrzemski stole second base in the second and fifth innings, respectively, and both subsequently scored. Flores delivered a two-out RBI single that plated Ramos for a 1-0 lead before Yastrzemski scored on a LaMonte Wade Jr. sacrifice fly to right.
Blanco left after issuing a leadoff walk to Jung Hoo Lee in the sixth. Flores made that free pass punitive with his three-run shot that scored Lee and Patrick Bailey and extended the lead to 5-0.
Blanco wound up charged with three runs on three hits and three walks with six strikeouts.
Paredes ended the Giants’ shutout bid with a two-run double off Spencer Bivens in the eighth. Matt Chapman got those runs back for the Giants with a two-run single in the ninth.
