SF Giants' Houser's rough outing vs. Marlins spoils Lee's big night

Justice delos Santos, The Mercury News on Apr 25, 2026

Published in Baseball

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SAN FRANCISCO — It was, plain and simple, a night to forget for Adrian Houser.

Houser matched his career-high in earned runs (eight) and hits (11) across four innings as the San Francisco Giants fell 9-4 to the Miami Marlins on Friday evening at Oracle Park.

The right-handed Houser, who signed a two-year, $22 million deal with a club option for 2028 in the offseason, has had a brutal start to his tenure with San Francisco. Over his first five starts, Houser has allowed 21 earned runs over 25 2/3 innings (7.36 ERA). What’s especially concerning is his minuscule strikeout rate of 11.3%, which is almost half the league average of 22.3%.

Jung Hoo Lee was one of the few positives on Friday night, going 3-for-4 and hitting his second home run of the season. Lee’s homer landed in McCovey Cove but wasn’t a true Splash Hit because the ball didn’t land in the water on the fly.

Lee has been finding his stride offensively over the last two weeks. In his last 10 games, Lee is 15-for-37 (.405) with a homer and two doubles.

Along with Lee, second baseman Luis Arraez collected three hits and stole his team-leading fourth base of the season.

The Marlins raced out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to Xavier Edwards’ RBI double and Liam Hicks’ two-run homer, an impressive drive that cut through a cold San Francisco night. Miami added another run in the second on an RBI single by Graham Pauley, then another in the third on a sacrifice fly by Hicks.

That five-run lead would’ve already been more than enough for Sandy Alcantara, but in the top of the fourth, the Marlins officially blew the ballgame open with a three-run homer by No. 9 hitter Connor Norby. As Houser walked off the field, a few restless fans tossed boos in Houser’s direction.

Oracle Park roared to life in the bottom of the fifth as San Francisco’s offense finally got to Alcantara, trimming the deficit to 8-3 as Drew Gilbert, Eric Haase and Luis Arraez all drove in a run apiece. The Giants got another run when Lee homered in the eighth, but the eight runs that Houser surrendered were too much to overcome.

Up next

Left-hander Robbie Ray (2-3, 2.86 ERA) will face the Marlins’ talented 23-year-old right-hander Eury Pérez (2-1, 4.15 ERA) as the Giants host Brandon Belt celebration day.