3 key factors to watch as Mariners travel to Houston to play the Astros

Well, it's about that time, folks. The Mariners season is officially hanging on by a thread, especially when it comes to the AL West. After blowing a handful of easily winnable games over the last couple of weeks, the Mariners enter a series against the Astros sitting 5 games back in the division. While they were oh so close to being only 1-2 games back, baserunning snafus, bullpen blowups, and defensive miscues have doomed the team in September.

The 5 game mark is just enough for the Mariners to have the slightest of chances to still win the division. They have the tiebreaker with the Astros, and need to sweep them to keep hopes alive as the magic number is just 2 for the Astros. An Astros win is automatically paired with a Mariners loss and gives them the division. A sweep by the Mariners would see them sit at 2 games back as they leave town, keeping hopes alive.

So, what should we be looking out for in the divisional matchup? The Mariners are hanging on by the slightest of threads, and they've wasted all their opportunities over the last three weeks, and can't afford anymore mistakes. Here are the 3 key factors that we need to watch for as the Mariners get set to play three games against the Astros.

Dan Wilson's management of his starting pitching

I don't know what it is about Bryan Woo, but it seems like when things go south for him in starts, it goes from great to awful in no time flat. It happened again in the Rangers series as Woo gave up just two hits through five innings while walking none. Then, after getting a flyout to start the 6th, Woo gave up a single, a single, a single, and a homer, and then another walk and single before getting through the inning.

He was only at 60 pitches when he entered the inning, so it's not like he was pitching super deep into the game or on a lot of pitches. Although he might not have his full strength after the recurring injury bugs that have plagued him this season. Should he have been pulled after five innings?

Well, those are going to be the questions that Dan Wilson is going to have to answer against the Astros. Bryce Miller, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby are set to throw. He's almost going to have to treat them like playoff games, giving extra thought to whether or not letting his starter get that extra inning is worth it or not. We know those guys can go seven innings, but a late blowup is too much to overcome for this offense.

The Astros lack of offense

At this point in the season, the Mariners actually hold the head-to-head matchup against the Astros with a 6-4 lead. In the Astros four wins, they've scored 5,4,3,4. In their losses, they've scored 0,4,2,2,1,4. It stands out that the Astros just haven't been able to do much on offense against the Mariners this season, and that's paramount to the Mariners success in this final series.

With an average of 2.9 runs compared to the Mariners average of...3.0 runs per game, it has all the makings of a low scoring series. There has been a lot made this season about the Mariners record and how drastically it changes in games of them scoring three or less runs as opposed to their record when they score four or more. The Mariners games against the Astros are a prime example of why that is. Getting to four runs nearly guarantees you a win.

If the Mariners can continue to quiet the Astros, they'll have a chance. Kyle Tucker is back with a vengeance, hitting .457/.558/.771 in his last 11 games... but it looks like the Astros may be without Yordan Alvarez in this series after hurting his knee against the Angels. If Alvarez does miss time and they can keep Tucker in check, the Mariners might just have a chance.