Astros take first of four against the Mariners
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 4-2 win
Jun 3, 2019, 11:59 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Fresh off a sweep of the A's in Oakland over the weekend, the Astros traveled up the west coast to kick off a four-game series with the Mariners in Seattle on Monday night. Here's a recap of the series opener:
Final Score: Astros 4, Mariners 2.
Record: 41-20, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Framber Valdez (2-2, 3.12 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Cory Gearrin (0-2, 4.24 ERA).
1) Coming out swinging
Houston got out to a hot start in this one, putting together a three-run top of the first against opener Cory Gearrin. It started with a one-out walk of Alex Bregman who would score on an RBI-triple from Josh Reddick. Reddick would then score himself on an RBI-groundout by Yuli Gurriel, then Robinson Chirinos hit a two-out solo home run to make it a quick 3-0 lead.
The trio of Bregman, Reddick, and Gurriel came through again in the top of the sixth. Bregman hit a one-out double, Reddick moved him to third with a single, then Gurriel drove in the run on another RBI to make it a 4-2 game.
2) Martin's struggles continue
Corbin Martin needed a motivation-building start to get him back on track after some rough starts in his early major-league career. He wouldn't get it. Martin was able to get through the first two innings scoreless but walked three batters along with some other long at-bats in that span that had him working with a high pitch count early.
That led to some determination to throw strikes in the third, which would, unfortunately, backfire as the Mariners tagged him with two solo home runs, making the third inning his last in a short appearance on a night where the bullpen was looking to rest after the twelve-inning game the day prior — Martin's final line: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 3K.
3) Valdez excellent in relief
With Martin only able to make it through three innings, the Astros went to one of their fresh arms in Framber Valdez to try and eat up some innings. He'd end up having a great outing, throwing four scoreless innings during which he allowed two hits and two walks to go along with three strikeouts.
Chris Devenski took over on the mound for the eighth inning and was able to get through it scoreless thanks to a little help from Jake Marisnick's daily highlight on defense. The two-run game went to the bottom of the ninth where Ryan Pressly came in to close things out and complete the 4-2 win for Houston.
Up Next: Game two of this series will begin tomorrow night with another 9:10 PM first pitch from Seattle. Wade Miley (5-3, 3.25 ERA) will be on the mound for Houston trying to get back in the win column after getting tagged with a loss last week. The Mariners have not yet announced their starter.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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As of 9:42 Central Daylight Saving Time Friday night, the Astros (and all other baseball players) are officially the Boys of Summer, officially so far as the season is concerned anyway. When the summer solstice arrived last year the Astros were nine games off the lead in the American League West. So in addressing the rhetorical axiom “what a difference a year makes,” the difference in the Astros’ case is a whopping 14 games as they start the weekend atop their division by five games. At this point in the season last year the Astros’ record in one-run games was a brutal 5-14. In 2025 they are 13-7 in games decided by the narrowest of margins.
That the Astros are just 4-5 in road games against the two worst teams in the American League is no big deal, other than that every game counts in the standings. Still, just as was losing two out of three at the pathetic White Sox earlier this season, it is no doubt disappointing to the Astros to have only gotten a split of their four-game set with the Athletics. The A’s had gone 9-28 in their last 37 games before the Astros arrived in West Sacramento. The former-Oaklanders took the first game and the finale, as the Astros’ offense played bi-polar ball over the four nights. Two stat-padding explosion games that totaled 24 runs and 35 hits were bookended by a puny one-run output Monday and Thursday’s 5-4 10-inning loss. Baseball happens. Nevertheless, as the Astros open their weekend set versus the Angels, they have gone 17-7 over their last 24 games to forge their five-game division lead.
The New York Yankees’ offense has been by a healthy margin the best attack in the American League so far this season. The reigning AL champions snapped a six-game losing streak Thursday. The Yankees mustered a total of six runs over those six losses, including being shutout in three consecutive games. The baseball season is the defining “it’s a marathon not a sprint” sport. With 162 games on the schedule, combined with the fact that the gap in winning percentage between the best teams and the worst teams is smaller than in any other sport, making much about a series, or week or two of games is misguided, apart from all the results mattering.
The future is now
Without context, statistics can tell very misleading stories. Cam Smith is having a fine rookie season and has the looks of a guy who can blossom into a bonafide star and be an Astro mainstay into the 2030s. But it’s silliness that has anyone talking about the big month of June he’s having. Superficially, sure, going into Thursday’s game Smith’s stat line for the month read a .321 batting average and .874 OPS. Alas, that was mostly about Smith’s two monster games in the consecutive routs of the Athletics. Over those two games Cam went seven for nine with two home runs and two doubles. Over the other 14 games he’s played this month Smith is batting .213 with an OPS below .540.
Cam Smith is a long-term contender for best acquisition of Dana Brown’s tenure as General Manager. If his career was a single game Smith is still in the first inning, but if his career was a stock it’s a buy and hold. If the Astros were for some reason forced to part with all but two players in the organization, I think the two they would hold on to are Smith and Hunter Brown. Jeremy Pena would be another strong candidate, but he turns 28 in September and is two seasons from free agency (unless the rules change in the next collective bargaining agreement). Smith is 22 and under Astros’ control for another five seasons, he’s not even presently eligible for salary arbitration until the 2028 season. Brown turns 27 in August and is currently ineligible for free agency until after the 2028 season.
Angels in the outfield
Hunter Brown pitches opposite Yusei Kikuchi Friday night. Kikuchi was Dana Brown’s big in-season move last season, and Kikuchi was excellent with the Astros which set up to get the three-year 63 million dollar deal he landed with the Halos. After a slow start to his season Kikuchi has been outstanding the past month and a half, with a 2.28 earned run average over his last nine starts. Brown’s 1.88 season ERA is second-best in the big leagues among pitchers with the innings pitched to qualify in the category. Only Pirates’ stud Paul Skenes has a better mark, barely so at 1.85.
Kikuchi was a stellar rental who helped the Astros stretch their consecutive postseasons streak to eight. There was an absurd amount of vitriol over what Dana Brown gave up for him. Joey Loperfido is 26 years old and having a middling season at AAA. Will Wagner is 26 years old and back in the minors after batting .186 with the Blue Jays. Jake Bloss is the one guy who maaaaaybe some day the Astros wish they still had. Bloss is out into 2026 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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