Astros take first of four against the Mariners
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 4-2 win
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.
