Astros lock up series win with 3-1 victory

Astros daily report: Astros 3, Mariners 1

Chris Campise
Apr 13, 2019, 9:57 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

After the big win on Friday night, the Astros looked to secure the series win with Justin Verlander on the mound Saturday night. Here's a rundown of the game:

Final Score: Astros 3, Mariners 1

Record: 10-5, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Justin Verlander (2-0).

Losing pitcher: Felix Hernandez (1-1).

Star of the game: It was vintage Justin Verlander on Saturday night. One of his very few mistakes on the night was a pitch that resulted in a solo home run for Seattle. Otherwise, Verlander was completely dominant in his six innings of work, getting eleven big strikeouts and giving up just one run on two hits.

Notes: After the offensive fireworks the night before, it took a few innings to get the scoring started on Saturday night. It was Robinson Chirinos who got Houston on the board with a solo home run in the top of the third, giving the Astros a 1-0 lead. Michael Brantley extended the lead to 2-0 in the third with an RBI single. Mitch Haniger managed one of the two hits against Verlander, his a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth which made it 2-1. Jose Altuve pushed the lead back to two runs in the top of the fifth with yet another home run, a solo shot which put his streak at five games and made it a 3-1 game. After Verlander hit 105 pitches through six innings, the Astros went to their bullpen to finish out the game. Will Harris had the seventh and worked around a two-out single then ground-rule double to get the last out and keep the Mariners from scoring. Ryan Pressly took over in the eighth and retired the side in order, then Roberto Osuna came in for a successful save in the ninth, his sixth on the year.

Up Next: The Astros and Mariners will wrap this series up tomorrow with a 3:10 PM first pitch. Gerrit Cole will start for Houston and look to get into the win column, currently sitting at 0-2 on the year despite some decent starts. He'll go up against Marco Gonzalez for Seattle who is 4-0 on the season.

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Verlander throws a gem in Astros win

Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 2 hits from the 5-1 win

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

After taking the first game of the series against the White Sox, the Astros had Justin Verlander on the mound Tuesday night to make it two in a row. Here are the quick results of the game and two hits:

Final Score: Astros 5, White Sox 1.

Record: 33-16, first in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Justin Verlander (8-1, 2.24 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Dylan Covey (0-3, 5.31 ERA).

1) Vintage Verlander

Justin Verlander was spectacular on Tuesday night, and in fact, took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Over the first six innings, he allowed just a walk while striking out ten. The no-hit bid was broken in the top of the seventh on a solo home run, but that didn't stop Verlander from having an incredible night. He'd complete eight innings during which he allowed only the one hit and run while striking out 12. The win moved him to 8-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.24. Hector Rondon took over for the ninth and threw a scoreless inning to wrap up the win.

2) Big fifth inning of offense

After both teams going scoreless through the first three innings, Yuli Gurriel finally got Houston on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth. The big offensive inning of the night, was the fifth, though, with the Astros putting up four runs on a wild pitch an RBI-single from Carlos Correa and a big two-RBI double from Michael Brantley.

Up Next: Game three of this four-game set will get underway with another 7:10 PM start on Wednesday night. Houston will send the league leader in strikeouts, Gerrit Cole (4-4, 3.56 ERA), to the mound to match up against Ivan Nova (2-4, 7.42 ERA) for Chicago.

The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.

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