Houston's magic number stays at 2

Astros drop series finale to Mariners after rough start by Greinke

Astros Zack Greinke
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Astros Zack Greinke

With their magic number at 2 to secure their spot in the 2020 MLB postseason, the Astros returned to T-Mobile Park in Seattle for this three-game series' finale and rubber game. Here are the highlights from the game:

Final Score: Mariners 3, Astros 2.

Record: 28-28, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Nick Margevicius (2-3, 4.57 ERA)

Losing pitcher: Zack Greinke (3-3, 4.03 ERA).

Greinke unable to complete five innings

While the Astros were being held scoreless, the Mariners were putting up runs on Zack Greinke. They took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles followed by an RBI-double with one out. Greinke would stop the damage there, then looked to settle in over the next few frames.

He allowed just one baserunner in the second through fourth innings, a one-out single in the bottom of the fourth. Then, in the fifth, the Mariners would knock him out of the game by getting a one-out single that would come around to score on a two-out RBI-double, followed by an RBI-single to extend the lead to 3-0. Greinke faced one more batter, allowing a single before Dusty Baker would take the ball and move to the bullpen. His final line: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR, 92 P.

Astros try a late rally, come up short

On the other end, the Astros were unable to break through against Nick Margevicius, getting just one hit and two walks through the first four innings. They had a chance to get on the board in the top of the fifth, starting the inning with back-to-back singles before a walk loaded the bases with one out to turn the lineup over. They'd come up empty, though, with George Springer striking out before a long flyball to center by Jose Altuve to end the inning.

After finishing the fifth for Greinke, Andre Scrubb returned for a scoreless sixth, working around a one-out walk. Still 3-0, Blake Taylor took over on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, erasing a leadoff single and two-out walk to keep Seattle from extending their lead. Houston had another chance to score in the top of the eighth, getting two runners in scoring position, but again would strand them.

Cy Sneed was the next reliever out for the Astros, working around a two-out walk to send the game on to the ninth. The Astros would avoid the shutout, getting a two-RBI single by pinch-hitting Josh Reddick in the top of the ninth to make it a one-run game at 3-2. That's as close as they'd come, though, as the Mariners would eventually get the final out to take the series and keep the Astros' magic number stagnant at 2.


Up Next: There is one series left in the regular season for Houston, and it awaits them in Arlington with a four-game series against the Rangers, who are well eliminated from playoff contention. The first of the four games will start at 7:05 PM Central on Thursday with a pitching matchup of Lance Lynn (6-2, 2.53 ERA) for Texas and Cristian Javier (4-2, 3.33 ERA) for the Astros.

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Billy is going in as an Astro. Photo by Jed Jacobson/Getty Images.

CC Sabathia will have a New York Yankees logo on the cap of his Hall of Fame plaque and Bill Wagner will have the symbol of the Houston Astros.

The hall announced the decisions Monday for all five of this year's inductees. Ichiro Suzuki will have the cap of the Seattle Mariners, Dave Parker of Pittsburgh Pirates and Dick Allen of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Players and their families give input on the choices to the hall, which makes the final decisions.

Inductees could make the pick through the 2001 induction, and the hall took over the decision ahead of the 2002 vote. The change followed reports in 1999 that Tampa Bay offered to compensate the newly retired Wade Boggs if his plaque bore a Devil Rays logo. Boggs was inducted in 2005 and his plaque has a Boston Red Sox logo.

Sabathia spent the last 11 seasons of a 19-year big league career with the Yankees (2009-19) after pitching for Cleveland (2001-08) and Milwaukee (2008).

Suzuki played for the Mariners in 14 of 19 seasons (2001-12, 2018-19) and also for the Yankees (2012-14) and Miami (2015-17).

Wagner pitched for Houston for his first nine seasons (1995-2003), then played for Philadelphia (2004-05), the New York Mets (2006-09), Boston (2009) and Atlanta (2010).

Parker spent his first 11 seasons with Pittsburgh (1973-83), then played for Cincinnati (1984-87), Oakland (1988-89), Milwaukee (1990), California (1991) and Toronto (1991).

Allen played for the Phillies in nine seasons (1963-69, 1975-76) while also spending time with St. Louis (1970), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1971), Chicago White Sox (1972-74) and Oakland (1977).

Inductions will take place July 27. Plaques include an image of the person and list of accomplishments in about 90 words, including each team a person played for or managed.


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