Mariners Reverse Fortunes vs Astros with Solid Series Win

In classic Seattle Mariners fashion, the M’s rebounded from a disappointing series loss to the Oakland Athletics with a surprising series win over the Houston Astros to cap off their homestand last weekend.

Mariners vs Astros: Game 1

On Friday night, the Mariners looked like a team on a mission while unloading four home runs off of Astros ace Justin Verlander in a 6-1 win. Julio Rodriguez, Kyle Lewis, Ty France, and Taylor Trammell all went deep, and Chris Flexen tied his season-best performance with one run allowed over seven strong innings.

Mariners vs Astros: Game 2

Game 2 saw another dominant performance by the Mariners offense, as well as a gem from starting pitcher Logan Gilbert, in an emphatic 6-0 victory. Kyle Lewis homered for the second night in a row, Julio Rodriguez collected three hits, and Ty France knocked two RBI singles to supplement Gilbert’s stellar seven-inning, five-strikeout outing.

Mariners vs Astros: Game 3

Instead of closing out the Astros for a rare series sweep, Seattle’s offense couldn’t come through with timely hits while the bullpen spoiled a solid start from Marco Gonzales in Sunday’s series finale, a deflating 2-1 loss to end the homestand. The contest was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 7th, when JP Crawford and Eugenio Suárez led off the inning with singles; however, manager Scott Servais made a debatable move to have contact specialist Adam Frazier sac bunt, then saw DFA candidate Mike Ford and an ice cold Luis Torrens each strike out to end the threat.

Stud reliever Paul Sewald lost his usual mojo by walking two Astros batters to load the bases, then gave up a go-ahead single to Yordan Alvarez to go down 2-1 in the eighth. Momentum returned to the Mariners in the bottom of the ninth when Ford walked to load the bases with one out, but Torrens continued his cold streak by grounding into a weak double play to send M’s fans home with the blues.