Houston Astros at Seattle Mariners

· Major League Baseball

Houston Astros

51-46, 23-25 Away

Final
3 - 0

Seattle Mariners

52-47, 30-19 Home

Astros complete climb and pull even in AL West race after beating Mariners 3-0

Hunter Brown worked around trouble while allowing four hits in six innings, Yainer Diaz delivered the big blow with a two-run single and the Astros moved into a tie for first place in the AL West with a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

“We have clawed our way through a very difficult stretch early in the season and find ourselves tied in first place — just proud of that group," Houston manager Joe Espada said. "They have never stopped fighting. They never stopped believing. And this is far from over but just to find ourselves in this position, it feels great.”

The Astros (51-46) trailed Seattle by 10 games and were seven games under .500 on June 18, but have surged over the past 24 games. Houston improved to 18-6 over the last 31 days and used one big inning against Seattle starter Luis Castillo to complete the climb.

Since holding that 10-game lead, the Mariners (52-47) have stumbled to an 8-16 mark, including a lifeless effort against their division rival coming out of the All-Star break that led to boos from the home fans after the final out.

Seattle’s offense again remained the problem. Brown (8-6) labored through the first two innings, but came up with key pitches when needed. He got Cal Raleigh to line out with the bases loaded and two outs in the third inning, and induced a double play from Josh Rojas to end the fifth after the first two batters reached.

The Mariners have lost four straight and scored three runs or less for the 15th time in the past 24 games.

“Our group understands where we’re at. Offense has been a struggle for us, trying different things to unlock it and get it going. Just not happening right now,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.

Brown worked through the sixth, walking three and striking out five. Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly were perfect in the seventh and eighth, and Josh Hader pitched the ninth for his 19th save.

“Coming off the break you want to start off hot and keeping their offense to zero runs is definitely a good way to do that,” Brown said.

Houston’s one big inning against Castillo (8-10) started when Trey Cabbage doubled, then scored as Jose Altuve reached on a bunt single and a bad throw by Rojas got away from first baseman Ty France. Alex Bregman was hit by a pitch and Yordan Alvarez walked on four pitches to load the bases with no outs.

With Castillo struggling to find his control, Diaz jumped on the first pitch, lining a single to score Altuve and Bregman.

The third was the only inning where Castillo faced major problems. He pitched seven innings, allowed six hits and struck out three, but lost for the first time since June 25.

ROSTER MOVE

Seattle reinstated LHP Gabe Speier from the 15-day injured list and designated for assignment RHP Mike Baumann. Speier has been out since June 1 with a rotator cuff strain, taking away a key reliever from Seattle’s bullpen. Baumann was acquired from Baltimore in late May and was 2-0 with a 5.51 ERA in 18 appearances for the Mariners.

Astros: LHP Framber Valdez (8-5, 3.66) will try to win his third straight decision. Valdez struck out a season-high 10 in his last start.

Mariners: RHP George Kirby (7-7, 3.29) has allowed three earned runs or less in nine straight starts.

How can I watch Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners?

TV Channel: Astros at Mariners 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on Root Sports NW.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Mariners: 53.8%

Astros: 46.2%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Polanco lined out to left.
	9th Inning	Garver struck out looking.
	9th Inning	Raleigh grounded out to shortstop.
	9th Inning	Hader relieved Pressly
	9th Inning	Loperfido struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Meyers struck out swinging.

Statistics

HOU		SEA
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
1	Hit By Pitch	0
15	Ground Balls	8
8	Strikeouts	8
2	Runs Batted In	0
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
6	Hits	4
0	Stolen Bases	0
2	Walks	3
0	Catcher Interference	0
3	Runs	0
2	Ground Into Double Play	1
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
32	At Bats	30
0	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
11	Runners Left On Base	10
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
1	Doubles	1
9	Fly Balls	14
0	Caught Stealing	0
118	Pitches	137
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
7	Total Bases	5
35	Plate Appearances	33
0.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
1	Extra Base Hits	1
1.0	Runs Created	0.3
.188	Batting Average	.133
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.219	Slugging Percentage	.167
.094	Secondary Average	.133
.257	On Base Percentage	.212
.476	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.379
1.7	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.6
1.0	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	0.3
18.0	Batter Rating	6.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.37	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.15
.031	Isolated Power	.033
0.25	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.38
.057	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.091
-.094	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.000
5.0	Runs Produced	0.0
0.7	Runs Ratio	0.0
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.2
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.2
69.3	MLB Rating	60.3
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0