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Altuve hits inside-the-park homer, Astros down Giants

Aug 21, 2011 - 5:00 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - J.D. Martinez hit a two-run home run and two- run double as the Houston Astros took a 7-5 win over the San Francisco Giants in the second of a three-game set.

Jose Altuve went 3-for-5 with an inside-the-park home run, his first career round-tripper, for the Astros, who tied their season-high with their fourth straight win. Jordan Lyles (2-7) got the win as he gave up just two unearned runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts over five innings.

"He pitched around seven hits and those runs were unearned," said Astros manager Brad Mills about Lyles. "The kid did a good job out there and the bullpen picked it up when we needed them to. It was a nice win to see out there tonight."

Houston now has a chance for just its second sweep of the season and first since a three-game sweep of the Cubs from May 30-June 1.

Cody Ross and Pablo Sandoval each drove in two runs for the Giants, who continue their free-fall with their fifth loss in their past six games. Madison Bumgarner (7-12) gave up seven runs -- six earned -- on 11 hits in 6 2/3 innings.

"He was a little off tonight," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "He made some mistakes and had some bad luck to go with it."

San Francisco, since winning two straight over the Phillies on July 27-28, has been mired in a slump as the team is just 6-16 since then. Luckily for them, though, they haven't fallen too far behind Arizona and remain 2 1/2 games behind the NL West leaders as the Diamondbacks have lost four straight, including an 8-1 thumping from Atlanta on Saturday.

Altuve's first career home run was a rare one as he hit a deep fly ball to left-center that hit off the wall and went over the head of centerfielder Ross, who ran down the ball and got it to Mike Fontenot, but the relay to home was not in time and Altuve had an inside-the-park home run.

The third saw the Astros inflate their lead to 5-0. With runners on second and third and one out, Martinez chased them both home with a double. After Carlos Lee reached on a Bumgarner error, Jimmy Paredes singled home Martinez and a sacrifice fly from Clint Barmes scored Lee.

San Francisco was able to cut into its deficit in the fourth as Ross hit a single to center that scored Fontenot and Chris Stewart to make it a 5-2 contest.

A solo home run from Aubrey Huff in the seventh made it a two-run game, but Martinez answered in the home half with a man on when he belted his fifth home run of the season for a 7-3 lead.

A two-run double from Sandoval in the ninth brought the tying run to the plate, but Mark Melancon was able to get the final two outs for his 13th save of the season.

Game Notes

It was the first inside-the-park home run for Houston since Adam Everett did it on August 6, 2003...The Astros have won four straight against the Giants, including both games this season...San Francisco left nine men on base.