Braden Montgomery gets a breather on Friday

The Astros had done nothing against Troy Melton to that point in the game, as Melton had retired the first 16 batters that he faced in order before Trammell crushed an 0-1 fastball for a 422-foot (110.5-mph EV) solo shot that gave the Astros a lead they’d never relinquish. Trammell finished the night 1-for-2 and is now hitting .280/.337/.439 with two homers and nine RBI in 82 at-bats with the Astros this season.

Peña singled off of Troy Melton with two outs in the sixth inning but was left stranded there. He then led off the ninth with a single off of Kenley Jansen, swiped second base, took third on a ground ball and scored a valuable insurance run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Isaac Paredes. On the season, the 28-year-old shortstop is now hitting .290/.356/.450 with six homers, 19 RBI and eight stolen bases in 188 plate appearances.

De Los Santos came on with a two-run lead to protect, but things got a bit tighter as Dillon Dingler slugged a one-out solo home run. Riley Greene followed with a single to put the tying run on base, but De Los Santos got Colt Keith to ground into a double play to end it. He has proven to be a capable fill-in option on nights when Josh Hader isn’t available.

The 28-year-old right-hander piled up 10 strikeouts on the evening while scattering just two singles and one walk. The Tigers never had a player reach second base against him. Imai got 16 swings and misses on 96 pitches on the night — 14 on his slider — while posting a strong CSW of 34 percent. It’s the second straight start in which Imai has pitched well and recorded double digit strikeouts. He’ll look to further improve upon his 5.36 ERA and 1.32 WHIP when he does battle against the Twins on Wednesday.

Dingler finally got the Tigers on the board with his one-out solo shot off of Enyel De Los Santos in the ninth inning, pulling his club to within a run at 2-1. That would be as close as they would get. Dingler is having an outstanding season at the dish, slashing .268/.336/.543 with a team-leading 19 home runs and 57 RBI.

Melton allowed just two hits in the contest and didn’t walk a batter. He retired the first 16 hitters that he faced in the game until Taylor Trammell walloped a solo homer to break a scoreless tie with one out in the sixth inning. That was enough to do him in. Melton generated 15 swings and misses on 88 pitches in the game — six of those on his fastball — while posting a CSW of 26 percent. He’ll bring an outstanding 2.39 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and a 25/9 K/BB ratio (37 2/3 innings) into a tough matchup against the Yankees in New York on Tuesday.

The Giants are calling the issue minor, and the 25-year-old backstop is considered day-to-day. For the season, Susac is slashing .262/.310/.330 with zero homers, 14 RBI and a 27/6 K/BB ratio over his first 115 plate appearances with the Giants.

Morel lost his bench spot on the Marlins’ roster when Griffin Conine returned from the injured list. The 27-year-old slugger hit a paltry .162/.219/.206 with zero homers, one RBI and a 28/4 K/BB ratio in 73 plate appearances with the Marlins. The expectation is that he’ll refuse the outright assignment and hit the free agent market.

Butler was on the wrong side of what was the game’s biggest play through six; with the bases loaded and two outs, he came up a little short on a diving attempt at Jung Hoo Lee’s liner to right and had the ball get by him for a three-run triple. The Giants were up 6-2 at that point, but the A’s came back with two in the seventh. In the eighth, Butler doubled to the wall in center. It looked like Jonah Cox had it all of the way, but he missed it at the end. Butler then came around to score on a Jeff McNeil single. In the ninth, Butler had the third of four singles off Caleb Kilian, giving the A’s a 7-6 lead. Butler is batting .342 with two homers, four doubles and two steals in his last 13 games, raising his OPS from .489 to .585. He needs to stay hot to ensure that he keeps starting against righties after Brent Rooker returns, but things are finally looking up.

It was one-run through five, but while facing the top of the lineup for the third time, he allowed a walk and a single with one out in the sixth. He was pulled then and both runners came around to score after he left. It makes one wonder why Mark Kotsay left him in the game in the first place if he didn’t trust him to carry on at 87 pitches, especially since his next batter was a lefty he’d already retired twice in Rafael Devers. Springs wasn’t involved in the decision today, but he has dropped seven in a row after opening the season 3-0. Even with the late runs scoring, this still rates as his best outing in June. He’ll take a 5.52 ERA into his next start against the Dodgers.