Mariners Opening Series vs. Houston Astros: 3 Up, 3 Down

After the heavy anticipation of the 2017 season, the Mariners dropped their season opener, and the 4-game series, to the Houston Astros.

The first series of the season didn’t go as hoped, losing three of four games to the Houston Astros. The Mariners are currently in fourth place in the AL West with a record of 1-3.

Opening day disappointed many Mariner fans as the team fell 3-0 in Houston and Felix Hernandez was forced to leave the game early with a groin injury. The next game resulted in another loss, 2-1, in a game started by Hisashi Iwakuma who allowed just four hits over six innings.

James Paxton was on the bump in game three and was phenomenal, but his six scoreless innings were squandered by a 13 inning marathon ending 5-3 on a George Springer walk-off home run.

The three-game losing streak was snapped on Thursday with a 4-2 victory behind a strong start from Arial Miranda.

Sure, I guess 1-3 is better than 0-4, but this is supposed to be the season that the Mariners finally make the playoffs for the first time since 2001.

It’s safe to say everyone is a little disappointed in the slow start, but hey, look at the bright side. There are still 158 more games to be played this season and the team hasn’t even played a home game yet.

There is a lot to take away from the Mariner’s opening series in Houston, besides their record. This article looks at the pros and cons from the series performance, three of each to be exact, in what we call, 3 up, 3 down.

3 up

With the team entering the season with high playoff hopes, a 1-3 start is tough to swallow. But keep your head up, there is a lot more baseball, and hopefully winning baseball, to be played! In fact, let’s take a look at some of the positives from the four-game series.

The Bullpen

Other than Chase De Jong giving up the walk-off home run to Springer in game three, the bullpen was lights out in Houston.

As a unit, they gave up 6 runs in 15.2 innings while racking up 11 strikeouts. That stat doesn’t sound too overwhelming, but they only gave up one run over nine innings of work besides the 13 inning game.

James Pazos and Edwin Diaz were the highlights on the pen. Pazos totaled 3.2 scoreless innings pitched with a strikeout.

Diaz earned his first save Thursday night after totaling three scoreless innings of work with four strikeouts in the series. Also in Thursday’s game, Dan Altavilla snagged his first major league win.

The Rotation

Yes, Felix hurt himself in his first outing. And yes, the team is 1-3. But each of the four starters who appeared in this series had strong performances.

The starting rotation only allowed six runs in four games, that is 1.5 runs per game. With those performances, the team should have won three of the four games if it weren’t for the weak offense.

Between Felix, Kuma, Paxton and Miranda, they totaled 22 innings of work while surrendering 16 hits and striking out 17.

The only thing that hurt the starters was the long ball. ALL six runs these guys allowed came as a solo home run. Given the Astros strong offense, giving up only solo dingers is a huge accomplishment.

Jean Segura

The Mariner’s new shortstop is the lone bright spot in the lineup. Segura went 6-for-20 over the four games with a home run while driving in three and stealing a bag.

His .300 batting average is by far the best in the rather lackluster lineup thus far. The next best average on the team? .188, shared by Mitch Haniger and Robinson Cano.