Astros’ Mauricio Dubón blasts his former club after ‘single-handedly’ beating SF Giants

HOUSTON — The Giants, who lost their starting shortstop and center fielder to the injured list before Monday’s loss to the Astros, could sure use an athletic, versatile player who could help fill the holes. Their lineup, limited to three runs on five hits Monday, wouldn’t say no to a hot hitter who can get on base and set the table.

Somebody such as, say, Mauricio Dubón? The former Giant, raised 90 minutes away near Sacramento, traded away last May for a catcher who lasted five weeks in the organization, has done just that for the Houston Astros, filling in at second base while Jose Altuve is injured and rattling off a 20-game hit streak in the process.

Sorry, he’s taken. And he doesn’t have any desire to come back.

“Thank God they don’t (have me). Thank God they don’t,” Dubón told Houston reporters Monday night, after collecting three hits, driving in two runs and scoring two more to help beat his former club, 7-3. “I’m good here. I’m good here. It’s been a family and I’m enjoying every moment.”

Mauricio Dubón, after 3 hits, 2 RBI, 2 R vs. #SFGiants: "It felt really good, honestly. … I was not treated the right way over there. … But with Dusty (Baker) here now, I’m in heaven." https://t.co/2OWvIlffGP

— Evan Webeck (@EvanWebeck) May 2, 2023

The term revenge game gets thrown around playfully, but it was clear this one meant something to Dubón. After an up-and-down three-and-a-half seasons in San Francisco, Dubón was traded away last May in a roster crunch — he and Thairo Estrada were both out of options, and you know now whom the Giants chose to keep — for catching depth in the form of Michael Papierski, who was waived only a little over a month later.

Oft-criticized for his base-running blunders, Dubón felt as if he didn’t get the opportunity in San Francisco. He was one of Farhan Zaidi’s first acquisitions, coming over from Milwaukee at the 2019 trade deadline, first playing for Bruce Bochy before Gabe Kapler arrived the following season.

“Obviously he didn’t get as many opportunities here, so I’m sure there’s some built-up frustration that he had and that is turning in to fuel,” said the Giants’ Joc Pederson, who considers Dubón a friend. “I guess you’ve got to tip your hat to him. He had an unbelievable (game). He basically single-handedly beat us today.”

Dubón singled in his first at-bat and stole second base, which put him in position to score the Astros’ first run when Yordan Alvarez smoked a 104.4-mph ground ball past Estrada at short. He drove in the tying run in the fifth, lining a Ross Stripling two-seamer down the right field line. He then pushed across the go-ahead run in the seventh, before scoring again, as part of a five-run inning that put the game out of reach.

“I threw him a really good slider in the first that he just hit into center field for a single and (he) almost beat us himself, right?” Stripling said, echoing Pederson. “He scored the first run then knocked in the next two. Obviously he’s probably very motivated against his former team as we all are when we play our former teams. But he’s locked in. I threw him a two-seam in in his last at-bat and same thing, he kind of just flares it into center field.”

After Monday night, Dubón is batting .317/.340/.406, with 32 hits in 24 games.

Asked what it meant to turn in that kind of performance against his former club, Dubón didn’t leave any doubt.

“It felt really good, honestly,” he said. “I knew I was going to have a big moment in the game. … I was not treated the right way over there. So coming here and being a family here and being able to perform the way I’m performing right now … with Dusty (Baker) here now, I’m in heaven.”