Monster 7th Inning Leads Astros Over Mariners 7-1

The Mariners were going toe to toe against Houston Astros starter Gerrit Cole, at least through the first 6 innings. Entering the top of the 7th, the score was 1-1. Mike Leake was outperforming Cole with only 1 run on 3 hits, no walks, and 7 strikeouts. Cole had only 1 run against him as well but only struck out 4.

The Mariners were very aggressive on the base paths against Cole, tallying 3 stolen bases against him. Dee Gordon got his 8th, while Mitch Haniger and Ben Gamel got their first. Gamel, who was brought off the disabled list today, got his first start of 2018. He went 0-2 with a walk. Gamel continued his base running aggressiveness by running home on a bloop single to right fielder Josh Reddick, who threw him out with an absolute strike to nab Gamel to end the inning.

The Astros first run came in the 2nd inning, a Brian McCann double plated Marwin Gonzalez to take a 1-0 lead. Seattle got their first run in the 3rd inning. Dee Gordon started the inning off with a bunt single, but a throwing error by Gerrit Cole got Dee to second. Robinson Cano drove him in with a single up the middle to tie the game at 1-1, and that score stayed the same until the 7th.

The monster inning started with a leadoff walk to Josh Reddick. Then, the floodgates opened. a Double from Yuli Gurriel led to a 2 run single from Marwin Gonzalez. Then another double from Brian McCann, an error from Haniger, a double from George Springer, and two base hits from Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa gave the Astros a 7-1 lead. The Mariners didn’t manage a single hit after that inning, as it seemed to take the air out of the stadium.

The winning pitcher tonight was Gerrit Cole, while the losing pitcher was Mike Leake. Tomorrow is game 4 of the series, wrapping up this homestand. The Mariners will need to get the win tomorrow to break this series even with the Astros to keep their streak of not losing series.

Next: Ian Miller Says He is Ready to Help Seattle

Tomorrow’s scheduled pitchers are Charlie Morton (2-0, 1.00 ERA) against Marco Gonzales (1-1, 8.25 ERA). After tomorrow, the Mariners will embark on a long road trip with stops in Texas, Chicago, and Cleveland. First pitch tomorrow is 12:40, and as always, Go Mariners.