*Photo from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette*
We're back to a tie in the division. Dylan Moore drove in a pair of runs, Luke Raley homered and drove in 3 runs, and the Seattle Mariners defeated the Houston Astros with a 6-4 victory Sunday afternoon in Seattle.
After losing the first two games and their division lead, the Mariners salvaged the series finale to avoid the sweep and moving into a tie with the Astros for the AL West lead once again. They scored 6 runs at the plate after managing just two runs on 7 hits in the first two games combined.
Seattle manager Scott Servais said of the win "A lot of good at-bats up and down the lineup. That’s good to see. We kept the strikeouts in check today; when you put the ball in play, you’ve got a chance, and we did that today."
It was Moore who got the scoring started in the second inning for the Mariners. He hit a triple to left field, making it 2-0 as Raley and Josh Rojas scored. In the top of the 4th, Yordan Alvarez hit a solo home run to make it 2-1 before a Jorge Polanco solo home run in the bottom of the inning made it 3-1. In the top of the 6th, Alvarez cut the deficit to 3-2 with an RBI triple.
Raley broke the game open in the bottom of the 6th for the Mariners. He hit his 11th home run of the season to make it a 6-2 lead for the Mariners on the 3 run shot. In the 7th, Jeremy Pena got a run back for the Astros with a solo home run to left center field. In the 8th, Chas McCormick cut the deficit to 6-4 with an RBI single up the middle.
Bryan Woo got the start for the Mariners, allowing two runs while striking out 5 hitters in 5 2/3 innings pitched. Tayler Saucedo got out of the 6th before Collin Snider and Gregory Santos each allowed a run. Andres Munoz picked up his 16th save of the season with a scoreless 9th inning.
Ronel Blanco was charged with 4 runs on 6 hits and one walk in 5 2/3 innings in his start for the Astros, striking out 5 hitters. Seth Martinez allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings before Shawn Dubin pitched a scoreless inning.
Despite the loss, Alvarez had a big day for the Astros. In addition to his home run and triple, he added a single and double to complete the cycle, becoming the second player to hit for the cycle this year, with Wyatt Langford being the other. He's also only the second player to hit for the cycle at Seattle's T-Mobile Park, with Miguel Tejada being the first to do it in September of 2001.
Houston manager Joe Espada said of Alvarez's cycle "That’s not easy to do, especially for a slugger. He was able to hit the ball, that looked like 500 feet, that homer. And then being able to hit a triple just tells you not only what a good hitter he is, but how athletic he is."
Up next, the Mariners host the Los Angeles Angels Monday night as Bryce Miller gets the series opening start. Spencer Arrighetti will be the starting pitcher for the Astros when they take on the Oakland Athletics Monday night.
Comments
Post a Comment