Down to their final strike, Smith saves Astros in 9th ... then Peña wins it in 10th

SAN FRANCISCO -- This was a game the Astros simply couldn’t afford to lose, and it looked like they were going to do just that when they were down to their final strike in the ninth inning Monday night against the Giants at Oracle Park.

In fact, the Giants’ win probability was 92 percent when Daulton Varsho flied out for the second out. With a runner at first base and Cam Smith at the plate with an 0-2 count, a wild pitch moved the tying run into scoring position, and Smith hit an RBI single to right field to force extra innings.

The Astros didn’t stop there, scoring three more times in the 10th inning -- Jeremy Peña snapped an 0-for-24 slump with an RBI single and Isaac Paredes added a two-run double -- to send Houston to an improbable 6-3 win over the Giants in the series opener.

“It came down to the last strike,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Cam Smith with the big knock the other way against a tough righty. We just competed. Our guys didn’t give up.”

Instead of falling back to .500 with what would have been their third loss in a row, the Astros improved to 61-59 and maintained their tenuous half-game lead in the American League West over the Rangers. Houston is 14-6 since July 20 -- the second-best record in the big leagues in that span behind Boston.

“To come back in the ninth and scrape one out, it changes the momentum of how things are going,” Astros pitcher Hayden Wesneski said. “We had two tough losses in San Diego and we end up losing this one and it’s three in a row and now it’s a streak. Instead we had a huge win and it swings the momentum and we feel good about it.”

All three players the Astros acquired in the December 2024 trade that sent Kyle Tucker to the Cubs played huge roles in the win, with Smith going 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, Wesneski allowing three runs in seven strong innings and Paredes going 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

No at-bat was bigger than Smith’s in the ninth against San Francisco reliever Dylan Smith, who had Smith in an 0-2 hole and couldn’t put him away. A wild pitch moved pinch-runner Nick Allen to second before Smith hit a grounder that glanced off the glove of second baseman Osleivis Basabe and squirted into right field.

“As soon as he got to second base, I said, ‘Man, this is a good opportunity right here,’” Smith said. “We know as a team that guy’s a little wild, but at the same time you have to kind of shrink your zone and take your chances.”

Peña’s hitless slump spanning 24 at-bats was the longest of his career. He was 0-for-4 in his first four at-bats Monday with three strikeouts and a groundout to shortstop Willy Adames, who made a great play to rob him of a hit in the sixth. Still, when Peña came to bat in the 10th, none of that mattered.

“I was sticking to my preparation before the game,” he said. “I was doing everything in my power to kind of make it happen on the field. I felt I wasn’t doing anything super different. Like I said, it’s part of the game. You push through and it was a great win tonight. Keep it going.”

When he got to first base, Peña jokingly motioned to the dugout that he wanted to keep the ball.

“Even the greats, sometimes it’s tough for them to get hits,” Espada said. “That was a big one. Adames made a nice play early in the game on him, but he’ll get hot here again.”

Espada used closer Josh Hader for more than one inning for the first time this season, with the lefty needing 22 pitches to retire all six batters he faced. The Astros have been careful with Hader, who missed the first 61 games with left biceps tendinitis, but limitations went out the window.

The Astros desperately needed this one.

“He came [after the ninth] and looked at us in the dugout and said, ‘I’m good to go,’” Espada said. “We’ve got to be very careful how often we do that, but I thought where he’s at right now -- [11] pitches in his first inning -- it was a good time to do it.”