Astros Wallop the Mariners for Series Sweep
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 2 hits from the 21-1 win
Sep 8, 2019, 4:00 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
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.
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.