Mariners Game Recap: LoMo Blasts M's Past Astros

62. Final. 1. 135. 8

The Seattle Mariners (28-34) beat the Houston Astros (35-28) 8-1 on Saturday afternoon at Minute Maid Park, snapping a 21 inning scoreless streak in the process. Mike Montgomery (1-1, 1.89 ERA) pitched effectively for the M’s, and earned his first career Major League victory. Collin McHugh (6-3, 5.08 ERA) was roughed up early and often en route to collecting his 3rd loss of the season.

Mike Montgomery cut right through the Astros’ lineup, allowing 1 run on 6 hits across 6 innings of work. Monty struck out 4 and issued 3 free passes on Saturday afternoon. He had some trouble with command, as just 57 of his 98 pitches found the strike zone. The 25-year-old southpaw was by no means perfect today, but he did enough to notch the first win of his career. I really like the fact that Monty pitches to contact, and makes his defense work. I think he has a bright future ahead of him as a back of the rotation lefty.

Danny Farquhar was recalled from Tacoma earlier in the day, and he was immediately put to work. Lord Farquhar was triumphant in his return to the Mariners’ bullpen, hurling 2 scoreless frames in relief. The 28-year-old right-hander fanned a pair of Astros, but he did allow 2 walks. Vidal Nuno pitched a perfect 9th for Seattle.

Collin McHugh is typically very tough on Mariners’ hitters, but he was lit up on Saturday. McHugh was touched up for 8 runs on 9 hits across 3 innings of work. He struck out 1, walked 2 and surrendered a pair of home runs. Roberto Hernandez pitched admirably, keeping the M’s off the scoreboard for 4 innings. Chad Qualls and Luke Gregerson both pitched perfect innings for Houston in the 8th and 9th innings.

The Mariners offense appears to be all or nothing these days. After scoring 9 runs in Cleveland on Wednesday night, the M’s bats were silenced, scoring 0 runs over the last 2 games. Yesterday was the worst game of the season, as Felix Hernandez allowed 8 runs to cross the plate in the 1st inning. Just when you think the season is over, the Mariners go out and hang 8 runs on the Astros, including a 5-run 1st inning. The Mariners finished today’s game going 3 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

Logan Morrison is having the best season of his career in 2015, and today was arguably his most productive game as a Mariner. LoMo went 2 for 5 with 2 home runs, 5 RBI’s and 2 runs scored. Morrison raised his batting average to .258 in the process. Seth Smith, Nelson Cruz and Mark Trumbo all tallied 2 hits apiece. Mike Zunino was the lone Mariners’ starter to not record at least 1 hit today.

The Houston Astros struggled to get anything going offensively on Saturday. George Springer was the standout for the home side, going 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Jason Castro went 2 for 3 with a double and a run scored in the losing effort.

It is hard to know what to make of this Mariners’ team. Coming off a 6-0 loss in Cleveland and a 10-0 loss last night, Seattle produced one of their best performances of the season. Today’s game was the rare occasion where the M’s received a strong showing from both their pitching staff and their offense in the same game. It is obvious the Mariners’ have the requisite talent to make a playoff push, and there is still plenty of time left to catch the Astros. However, it will take a true team effort to win consistently over the final 3 and a half months of the season.

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Mariners Game Recap: LoMo Blasts M’s Past Astros

By Brian Helberg | Jun 13, 2015

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