Kyle Seager Beats The Houston Astros 5-3

Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Mariners had dropped eight straight games. Failure was becoming automatic for this club. But the most patient hitter on the team so far this season showed why patience pays off. Seager hit a two-run homer in the 7th to put the Mariners back in the game and then hit a three-run homer in the 9th to walk off with a 5-3 win, avoiding the sweep.

Earlier today, I argued that Kyle Seager should get a shot at being the leadoff hitter, based on his patience. That patience showed up with his team-leading 11th walk of the season in the 5th to start a rally that was snuffed out by a double-play ball off the bat of Dustin Ackley.

In the 7th, Seager worked Jarred Cosart for 11 pitches, and connected on the two-run homer on that 11th pitch, to get the Mariners on the board, trailing 3-2. In the 9th, he showed a lack of patience, swinging on the first pitch, driving the ball to almost the exact same fan, for the walkoff three-run homer.

So why not let him try leading off? How is Almonte doing? He was 0-for-4 again today with two more strikeouts. He now leads the majors with Justin Upton for the most strikeouts so far this year. How is that good for your leadoff hitter?

Of 201 qualifying players in the majors, Almonte’s OBP is 187th! Only Brad Miller‘s is worse – and he’s the current number two hitter!

But let;s not dwell on the negatives for too long. The Mariners WON today. They snapped the right-game skid, avoided falling into last place in the AL West, and the American League in general. They get a day off tomorrow and then the Texas Rangers come to town, having just swept the Oakland Athletics in Oakland to take over first place.

Should be an interesting series. Let’s hope the good times continue to roll.

BOX SCORE

Batting

Houston


	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	LOB	AVG
José Altuve2B	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.250
Dexter FowlerCF	3	1	1	0	0	2	1	1	.214
Jason CastroC	5	0	1	2	0	0	1	2	.212
George SpringerRF	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.182
Marc Krauss1B	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	.149
Jesús GuzmánPH-1B	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.211
Alex PresleyLF	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	1	.226
Chris CarterDH	3	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	.156
Matt Domínguez3B	3	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	.222
Marwin GonzálezPR-3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Jonathan VillarSS	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	2	.194
Totals	31	3	6	3	1	7	8	14

Batting

2B – J Castro (2, C Young); J Villar (4, C Young)

HR – C Carter (2, 7th inning off C Young 0 on, 0 Out)

S – J Villar

RBI – J Castro 2 (11), C Carter (5)

2-out RBI – J Castro 2

Runners left in scoring position, 2 out – D Fowler 1, J Castro 1, M Krauss 1, C Carter 2

Team LOB – 9

Running

CS – D Fowler (1, 2nd base by C Young/M Zunino)

Fielding

DP – 2 (J Altuve-J Villar-M Krauss, J Villar-M Krauss)

Seattle


	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	LOB	AVG
Abraham AlmonteCF	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.213
Brad MillerSS	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	.183
Robinson Canó2B	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	.280
Corey HartDH	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	.270
Michael SaundersPR	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.176
Justin Smoak1B	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	4	.233
Kyle Seager3B	3	2	2	5	2	1	0	0	.179
Nick FranklinRF	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	.125
Dustin AckleyLF	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	.239
Mike ZuninoC	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.254
Totals	30	5	7	5	2	3	7	8

Batting

HR – K Seager 2 (2, 7th inning off J Cosart 1 on, 1 Out, 9th inning off J Fields 2 on, 1 Out)

RBI – K Seager 5 (7)

Runners left in scoring position, 2 out – M Zunino 1

GIDP – J Smoak, D Ackley

Team LOB – 3

Pitching

Houston


	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	ERA
Jarred Cosart	6.2	4	2	2	3	4	1	1.32	6.12
Raúl Valdes(HLD, 1)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.00	27.00
Chad Qualls(HLD, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2.00	6.43
Josh Fields(L, 0-1)(BS, 1)	0.1	3	3	3	0	1	1	1.18	4.82

Seattle


	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	ERA
Chris Young	7.0	4	3	3	5	6	1	1.44	3.50
Charlie Furbush	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1.71	5.14
Fernando Rodney(W, 1-1)	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1.74	1.42

BALK – C Young

Pitches-strikes – J Cosart 104-73; R Valdes 2-2; C Qualls 14-10; J Fields 8-7; C Young 113-63; C Furbush 17-10; F Rodney 28-17

Ground balls-fly balls – J Cosart 7-7; R Valdes 0-1; C Qualls 0-1; J Fields 1-2; C Young 1-15; C Furbush 0-1; F Rodney 2-0

Batters faced – J Cosart 25; R Valdes 1; C Qualls 3; J Fields 4; C Young 29; C Furbush 5; F Rodney 5

Game Details

Game Time: 2:50.

Umpires: HP–Jeff Nelson. 1B–Marcus Pattillo. 2B–Laz Diaz. 3B–Scott Barry.

Weather: 53 degrees, Cloudy.

Wind: 2 mph, In From Left.

Attendance: 13,739.

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