Astros Wallop the Mariners for Series Sweep
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 2 hits from the 21-1 win
After taking the first three of this four-game series with the Mariners, the Astros looked to make it a sweep with a victory on Sunday as they continue to battle for home-field advantage in the postseason. Here is a quick recap of the series finale:
Final Score: Astros 21, Mariners 1.
Record: 94-50, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Gerrit Cole (16-5, 2.73 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Felix Hernandez (1-6, 6.96 ERA).
1) Houston has a field day at the plate
It was a highly successful day against Seattle's pitching for Houston's offense. It started against Felix Hernandez whom the Astros scored four runs in the second inning after a costly error and two-run home run by Jake Marisnick. They followed that up with a nine-run third inning, knocking Fernandez out of the game as they would get RBIs from Aledmys Diaz, Kyle Tucker, Martin Maldonado, a three-run home run by George Springer and two two-RBI doubles, both in the same inning, by Yordan Alvarez.
After Seattle got on the board with one run in the top of the fourth, the Astros pushed the lead further on a two-RBI double by Kyle Tucker in the bottom of the fifth, making it 15-1. Yordan Alvarez helped score another in the bottom of the sixth, hitting a ground-rule double, then added two more to make it six RBIs on the day as part of a five-run bottom of the seventh to make it a 21-1 advantage for Houston.
2) Cole decimates Seattle's lineup
With all the offense, Gerrit Cole had himself in line for an easy win. That didn't shorten his day, though, as he would work quickly in inning after inning while racking up another double-digit strikeout start.
He allowed a solo home run in the top of the fourth, the only run he would allow on the day. Though he likely could have finished the game, he would be shut down after eight incredible innings. Cole's final line: 8 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 15 K, 1 HR.
Chris Devenski took over for Cole to wrap things up in the ninth. He would retire Seattle in order, completing the four-game sweep and improving Houston to 94-50 on the year and keeping them on top of the overall league standings.
Up Next: Houston will continue this homestand by starting a three-game series with the A's Monday at 7:10 PM. The pitching matchup for the opener is Zack Greinke (14-5, 3.09 ERA) for the Astros going against former-Astro Mike Fiers (14-3, 3.51 ERA) for Oakland.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.