HOUSTON -- When the Giants called Mauricio Dubón up a few weeks after acquiring him in 2019, it felt like the start of something new in San Francisco.
Dubón was 25 at the time and one of the first young players acquired by Farhan Zaidi, and on the day he arrived in San Francisco, then-manager Bruce Bochy said he would get a chance to stick.
"We'd like to find time to give this kid a chance to show what he can do," Bochy said at the time.
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It all finally clicked for Dubón, just in a different jersey.
Dubón has gotten a chance to play every day after star second baseman Jose Altuve got hurt in March, and he turned into an April savior for the Houston Astros. On the first day of May, he received an opportunity he's been waiting for since the schedule came out.
And he made his old team pay.
Dubón had a hand in the first four Astros runs in a game Houston won 7-3. The go-ahead run came on Dubón's double in the seventh, and the Astros went on to score four more runs, pulling away in a game the Giants led early.
The Giants were visibly tired in the afternoon after a late arrival from Mexico City, but it was the Astros who had their backs against the wall after just eight pitches. A day after losing José Urquidy to shoulder discomfort, starter Luis Garcia lasted just eight pitches before being removed with right elbow discomfort.
The Giants didn't do much against Brandon Bielak, who was pressed into emergency long relief duty, but Joc Pederson put them on top with a two-run shot in the third. That lead disappeared when Dubón hit a two-out single in the fifth, bringing Jake Meyers home from second.
San Francisco Giants
Here are three more things to know from the Giants' fourth straight loss:
Back home
Giants right-hander Ross Stripling grew up near Dallas and lives in Houston in the offseason, and he certainly looked right at home in his return. Stripling had his best start of the year, allowing two runs in five innings and striking out five.
After allowing six homers in his first three appearances for the Giants, Stripling hasn't given one up his last three times out. He leaned heavily on his slider against a good Astros lineup, throwing 27 of them and getting 18 strikes, including five swinging.
Stripling was working on a new changeup grip early in the year but scrapped it to go back to his old one; he also got five swinging strikes on the changeup.
Hello, old friend
Before the game, Dubón said he was looking forward to seeing Brandon Crawford and Logan Webb this week, and also was excited about facing his former team. He ended up being in the middle of every rally.
Dubón recently had a 20-game hitting streak and he hit leadoff for the defending champs on Monday. He singled in the first, stole second and then scored the game's first run on a single by Jose Abreu. With the two RBI hits later in the game, he raised his average to .317.
The Giants traded Dubón last May because both he and Thairo Estrada were out of options and -- at the time -- they had a full infield. It's worked out well for both young infielders, although the Giants might regret not finding a way to keep them together.
Where's the relief?
The bullpen was worn down by two games in Mexico City, so Sean Hjelle came in for the final out of the sixth and then got the seventh inning of a tie game. He wouldn't make it out of the inning.
The Astros scored five runs in the seventh on four hits and three walks. All five runs were charged to Hjelle, who has allowed 21 hits, 15 earned runs and 10 walks through 13 1/3 innings as a sophomore.
The staff now has allowed 70 runs in the seventh inning or later, the second-most in the Majors. The group ranks 28th in the majors in ERA.