Houston 6, San Francisco 3

Astros 6, Giants 3: J.D. Martinez hit a grand slam as visiting Houston rebounded from Wednesday night’s perfect game and managed to avoid a series sweep.

Just hours after being shut down by San Francisco’s Matt Cain, the Astros jumped out in front to stay on a solo home run by Matt Downs in the second inning. Martinez made it a 5-0 game one inning later with his one-out blast to left against Barry Zito (5-4), who had walked three consecutive hitters to load the bases.

Brandon Belt got the Giants on the board with a two-run homer in the fourth inning and San Francisco cut the deficit to two with a Hector Sanchez sacrifice fly in the sixth, but Houston got an insurance run in the eighth inning on an RBI single from Justin Maxwell.

Winning pitcher Wandy Rodriguez (6-4) allowed three runs on six hits in six innings, striking out three and walking two. Brett Myers, the third Houston reliever, worked around a leadoff single in the ninth for his 16th save.

Zito gave up five hits in five innings, finishing with three strikeouts and the three pivotal walks.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Belt homered in all three games of the series for San Francisco. ... Giants LF Melky Cabrera, who had gone 9-for-23 with six runs scored in his last five games, was 0-for-3 with a walk, dropping his league-leading batting average to .363. ... The grand slam by Martinez was the first of his career. ... 2B Jose Altuve had two hits for Houston, raising his team-best average to .325.

• San Francisco will play their next game on the road against Seattle. The Giants have a W/L % of .528 after a win and .607 after a loss.
• Houston will play their next game on the road against Texas. The Astros have a W/L % of .462 after a win and .417 after a loss.