Astros lifted over Mariners by two grand slams
Astros daily report: Astros 10, Mariners 6
Apr 13, 2019, 12:32 am
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
The Astros were in Seattle for the first of three games in the big matchup against the Mariners. Here's the breakdown of the game:
Final Score: Astros 10, Mariners 6
Record: 9-5, second in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Brad Peacock (2-0).
Losing pitcher: Shawn Armstrong (0-1).
Stars of the game: Jose Altuve and Yuli Gurriel both had clutch grand slams which pushed Houston over the top in the win. Altuve's slam flipped the game from a 3-2 Mariners lead to 6-3 Astros lead and extended his streak to four consecutive games with a homer. Gurriel's slam stopped the momentum of the Mariners who had gotten within a run in the previous inning.
Notes: After the Astros went down in order in the top of the first, Wade Miley struggled in the bottom of the inning, giving up a run on three hits and a walk on 41 pitches, all in the first inning. Seattle extended the lead to 3-0 in the second, getting a two-out, two-RBI single to shallow center field, just out of Jake Marisnick's diving grasp. George Springer got the Astros back in it in the top of the third, blasting a two-run homer to trim the deficit to one run. After the first and second inning struggles, Miley's pitch count was high after four innings, resulting in Brad Peacock making an appearance from the bullpen to take over in the 3-2 game in the fifth, keeping the one-run game in play. The Astros did damage against Seattle's bullpen in the top of the sixth, loading the bases for Jose Altuve who continued his home run streak by launching a grand slam to double up the Mariners at 6-3. Seattle would battle back in the bottom of the seventh, scoring one run on a wild pitch from Peacock then getting an RBI groundout to get back within a run at 6-5. Houston wanted to give their bullpen more room to work with, and proceeded to load the bases in the top of the eighth to set up the second grand slam of the night, this time from Yuli Gurriel to make it a 10-5 advantage. Peacock faced one more batter in the bottom of the eighth, then Chris Devenski finished that inning off before continuing in the ninth. After a solo home run from the Mariners along with getting a couple of runners on against Devenski, A.J. Hinch left nothing to chance, going to Roberto Osuna to get the final out to lock up the win.
Up next: After breaking the Mariners' winning streak on Friday night, the Astros will look to lock up the series win and extend their own winning streak to 8 with a win on Saturday night. First pitch will be at 8:10 PM and will feature Justin Verlander on the mound for Houston and Felix Hernandez for Seattle.
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Stephen Curry closed his eyes and rested his tired head on Jimmy Butler's right shoulder as the superstars shared another postgame moment.
This time, with Butler injured and wearing street clothes — a full-length fur coat at that.
“Well first, he had a fantastic coat on,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I thought he was going to be way too hot in that thing.”
Sidelined for Game 3 of Golden State's first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, Butler had a front-row seat to watch his teammate take over Saturday night in a 104-93 win that gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead.
Curry scored 36 points with five 3-pointers and had nine assists and seven rebounds in nearly 41 minutes. He had been determined to do more if Butler couldn't play after injuring his pelvis and suffering a deep gluteal muscle contusion in a hard fall during Game 2.
Butler and Curry can compare notes on their injured backsides, given that Curry has dealt with a bruised tailbone multiple times. For now, Curry appreciates the support, whether Butler is in uniform or not.
And the fur Butler was wearing?
“I almost didn't need a hot pack on the sideline sitting next to him. There was plenty of heat emanating from him,” Curry said before adding, “He's a savvy veteran, high-IQ guy, he's got a presence whether he's active or not where his voice matters, and we needed him to lift everybody up on the bench and give us that energy. His presence matched the fit for sure.”
Kerr wasn't ready to guess whether Butler will be able to play in Game 4 on Monday night.
“He’s literally day-to-day. We have tomorrow off. It will be helpful for him to have another day, and then it’s a night game,” Kerr said. “So he gets a few extra hours. So we’ll see. I have no idea right now if he’s going to play.”
Butler had been set to go through his pregame routine, which he does out of sight on the team's practice court and not the playing floor before games at Chase Center. He had an MRI exam Thursday in the Bay Area a day after he was hurt in Houston.
“We had to have Jimmy’s back while he was out,” said Gary Payton II, who scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. “Hopefully we get Jimmy back for Game 4 and get back to our regularly scheduled program.”
Jonathan Kuminga, who didn't play for three straight games before rejoining the rotation in Game 2 when Butler got hurt, was in the starting lineup for his fourth career playoff start.
Butler went down hard when he was fouled by Amen Thompson late in the first quarter and then missed the rest of the Warriors’ 109-94 Game 2 loss on Wednesday night.
Butler tried to secure a rebound when Thompson undercut him and sent the Warriors star’s feet high into the air so that he came down straight onto his tailbone. Both players thudded to the floor and Butler grimaced in pain, grabbing at his backside. He stayed in briefly to shoot two free throws before going to the locker room.
Kerr appreciated Butler's insight on the bench.
“Jimmy is so smart. He reminds me so much of Andre Iguodala," Kerr said. “Incredible basketball IQ and then the ability to communicate what he’s seeing to his teammates on the bench. I thought Jimmy was important for us tonight in that regard. He was talking to guys throughout the game, and giving them advice, giving some help, and that was big.”
In the Game 1 win against the Rockets, Butler had 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in 42 minutes. The Warriors are 26-9 since Butler made his debut at Chicago on Feb. 8, including 23-8 in the regular season, a play-in tournament win over Memphis and the three games against Houston.
“We know they are still dangerous without Butler, so that doesn’t change anything as far as that," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “We didn’t make them pay, especially with the paint shots.”