*Photo from Chron*
Houston leads series 1-0
The story of the long downtrodden underdog met the machine of a contender and got a taste of their own medicine. Alex Bregman homered, Yordan Alvarez hit a walk off homer, and the Houston Astros defeated the Seattle Mariners with an 8-7 victory on Tuesday afternoon in Houston.
Starting the series with a bit of a layoff thanks to a first round bye, the Astros rode the waves of a raucous crowd and star power to a comeback win against the AL West rival Mariners. After a few runners reached base, Alvarez was exactly the man Houston wanted at the plate. He did not disappoint.
Bregman said of the environment after the game that "The place was on fire tonight. The fans were unbelievable. It was so awesome to have a packed house here. The energy was flowing. We felt it. We felt them. We love when they're loud. Just that environment was awesome. Yordan hitting a homer was crazy."
Cal Raleigh gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead, scoring Julio Rodriguez on an RBI single in the first inning. In the second, Rodriguez hit a two run double, and Ty France hit an RBI single, making the Mariners lead 4-0. In the 3rd inning, Alvarez got the Astros on the board, doubling off the left field wall to bring in two runs and make it a 4-2 game.
In the 4th, JP Crawford hit a solo homer and France added an RBI double to make the score 6-2. Yuli Gurriel hit a solo homer in the bottom to make it 6-3. Eugenio Suarez hit a solo homer in the 7th to make it a 7-3 game. Bregman followed that up with a two run shot in the 8th inning, cutting the deficit to 7-5.
That brought things to the 9th inning. Pinch hitter David Hensley got on with a hit by pitch, and Jeremy Pena singled with two outs, bringing up Alvarez. Against Mariners lefty Robbie Ray, looking for his first ever save, Alvarez crushed the walk off 3 run home run to right field, making it an 8-7 final and sending the crowd into bedlam.
Alvarez said of his homer that "I think it's one of the most special moments that I've had in my career, having my parents there, and even for just the city of Houston. They know that we're a team that never gives up. So just being able to get that hit right there was one of the most special moments of my career."
Justin Verlander started for the Astros and had a shaky outing, allowing 6 runs on 10 hits in 4 innings pitched. Bryan Abreu pitched the next 1 2/3 innings, followed by 1 1/3 from Cristian Javier. Hunter Brown pitched a scoreless inning, and Rafael Montero got the win with a shutout 9th inning.
It was Logan Gilbert pitching for the Mariners, who allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in 5 1/3 innings pitched. Matt Brash finished the 6th, with Diego Castillo working a scoreless 7th inning. Andres Munoz pitched the 8th, before Ray and Paul Sewald worked the fateful 9th inning for the Mariners.
Seattle manager Scott Servais said that "It was something going into the series where we were at, looking at our rotation, where we were going to head, and talking with Robbie about using him out of the bullpen as a bullet, so to speak, for that type of scenario. Bringing in a lefty against Alvarez, although Alvarez is one of the better hitters in the league. I looked at it in the seventh inning and said, ‘Hey, this could happen.’ So that was the plan going in."
Up next, there is a day in between games, with game two taking place on Thursday afternoon. Framber Valdez gets the start for the Astros, while Luis Castillo starts for the Mariners.
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