Still, this was a series the Astros came in wanting to close out. Houston and San Francisco had split the first two games, and after a summer that's had both front offices selling more than buying, neither team wanted to leave the Bay Area empty-handed.
Both clubs limped into the finale. Houston had dropped 2 of 3 to the Padres over the weekend before salvaging the series opener here, while the Giants have been streaky all year under first-year manager Tony Vitello. Neither offense looked like it had much left to give in the middle innings of a low-scoring afternoon.
San Francisco's injury report tells the real story of this season. Matt Chapman is done for the year after season-ending surgery, and manager Vitello has already ruled out Harrison Bader for the rest of the schedule. Buster Posey's front office sold at the deadline instead of buying, and a bullpen already missing Randy Rodriguez, Rowan Wick and Hayden Birdsong is exactly the kind of unit an offense like Houston's is built to pick apart late.
It took just 3 total runs to settle it. Houston pushed across single runs in the 7th and 8th to erase San Francisco's early lead, doing it despite getting outhit 5-4 and with a Giants error not helping their cause. The Astros walk away with the series in a building that hasn't always been kind to them, while the Giants are left searching for offense again in a lost season that keeps finding new ways to lose close ones.