*Photo from the Houston Chronicle*
When they needed it most, they got it. Yordan Alvarez homered, Justin Verlander shined on the mound, and the Houston Astros defeated the Seattle Mariners with a 5-1 victory on Monday night in Seattle.
Entering the game needing to win to stay in one of the Wild Card spots in the AL, the Astros did just that, taking control of the game early. They lead the Mariners by a game and a half for the final AL Wild Card spot and trail the Texas Rangers by 2 1/2 games for the AL West lead.
Verlander said of the standings that "You would like to be able to win the division. That’s still not out of the realm of possibility, but I know this team, as you’ve seen when we went to Texas, and hopefully today and the remainder of this series, when it’s time to turn it on, we know how to play that type of baseball, and we do it really well. No matter what, if we get there, I love these guys and I love our chances, and we’ll see what happens."
Mauricio Dubon got the scoring started in the second inning, hitting an RBI single that scored Jose Abreu to make it 1-0. Dubon then scored himself on an RBI double from Martin Maldonado, doubling the lead to 2-0. Jose Altuve then hit an RBI single, bringing home Maldonado to make it 3-0 Astros after two innings.
Alvarez picked up where Altuve left off in the 3rd inning, blasting a solo home run to make the lead 4-0. It stayed that way until the 6th inning, when Kyle Tucker mashed a solo shot of his own, padding the lead to 5-0. In the 9th inning, Julio Rodriguez ended the shutout bid, scoring Josh Rojas on a sac fly to make it a 5-1 score.
On the mound for the Astros was Verlander, who turned in a dominating performance when it was needed the most. Verlander allowed one run on 3 hits and a walk in 8+ innings, striking out 8 hitters. When he couldn't get an out in the 9th, Bryan Abreu came on to close out the win.
Verlander said after the game that "The season, in general, has been a bit of a grind for me, all the way back to the beginning. It started with an injury and never quite finding my mechanics and working hard. This is just one of those years where nothing’s been easy. Maybe I’ll catch the right timing here and this could be a good start of something, hopefully."
Luis Castillo allowed 5 runs on 8 hits and one walk in 6 innings, striking out 8 in his start for the Mariners. A bullpen trio of Trent Thornton, Tayler Saucedo, and Dominic Leone combined for 3 shutout innings after Castillo departed.
Seattle shortstop JP Crawford said of falling to Verlander that "He had us off-balance. Usually, we go in with a certain plan and he did a good job adjusting today. We were just a big hit away from getting back into the game and the momentum shifting. And after that, it's tough to get going with a pitcher like that. Like I said, he had everything working tonight. He just had his off our toes."
Up next, the series continues on Tuesday night. The Astros go for two wins in a row and a series win as Cristian Javier gets the start. The Mariners look to tie the series at a game apiece with George Kirby starting.
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