Houston takes two of three in the series

Astros fall in extras as Mariners avoid series sweep

Astros' Yordan Alvarez
Yodan Alvarez's third homer in as many games was one of the offensive highlights in Sunday's finale with the Mariners. Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Yodan Alvarez's third homer in as many games was one of the offensive highlights in Sunday's finale with the Mariners.

With the series victory already under their belt with wins on Friday and Saturday, the Astros tried to maintain their momentum going in Sunday's finale to complete the sweep and keep their new winning streak going. Although they would lead much of the game, Seattle would force extra innings, where they would eventually pull away to avoid getting swept.

Final Score (11 innings): Mariners 6, Astros 3

Astros' Record: 73-51, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Paul Sewald (8-3)

Losing Pitcher: Ryne Stanek (1-3)

Houston jumps out front early

After a scoreless first inning for both teams, Yordan Alvarez started the scoring on Sunday by leading off the bottom of the second with a solo homer, this third straight game with a home run. Yuli Gurriel followed him with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch, third on a groundout, then scored on an RBI double by Taylor Jones to double the new lead to 2-0. The two-run inning proved pivotal, as the score remained put there until late in the game.

Valdez cruises through seven shutout innings

That was the case due to a great outing by Framber Valdez. He erased a single and a walk in the second, a single in the fifth, and a single in the seventh, allowing just those four baserunners in his afternoon on the mound. He dealt with just one runner in scoring position all day, having his way with Seattle in a quality start. His final line: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 98 P.

Astros fall in extras

That left two frames for Houstons' bullpen to account for, and the eighth inning belonged to Kendall Graveman. Seattle challenged him with two outs, getting back-to-back doubles to get on the board. That made it a one-run game at 2-1 before Graveman finished the inning. Ryan Pressly took over in the ninth to try and get the save but was instead met with a leadoff solo homer to tie the game at 2-2, though he would retire the next three batters in order.

That meant if the Astros were to win, it would have to come via a walk-off. Their first chance came in the bottom of the ninth, but they would do nothing with it as they'd go down 1-2-3 to send the game to extra innings. Brooks Raley pitched the top of the tenth, and with some help by a heads-up defensive play by Carlos Correa to throw out the free runner at third on a groundball, was able to keep the game tied.

That put the winning run at second base to start the bottom of the tenth, which would be Lance McCullers Jr., pinch-running for Martin Maldonado, who recorded the final out of the ninth. He moved to third on a leadoff single by Jose Altuve before the Mariners intentionally walked Brantley to load the bases with no outs. The move paid off, as the next three batters would go down on strikeouts to keep the game going another inning.

Ryne Stanek took over out of the bullpen in the top of the eleventh, but before he could record an out allowed a go-ahead single to give Seattle their first lead of the day at 3-2. Things went from bad to worse from there, as he also allowed a three-run homer to extend the Mariners' new lead to 6-2. The Astros would get a run in the eleventh on a one-out RBI single by Jake Meyers, then proceeded to load the bases with one out, bringing the winning run to the plate. They'd once again strand them all, though, with the Mariners holding on to avoid getting swept.

Up Next: Having just played a four-game series against them in Kansas City, the Astros will wrap up the season series against the Royals with a three-game set in Houston starting Monday at 7:10 PM Central. In the opener, the pitching matchup is scheduled to be Zack Greinke (11-3, 3.43 ERA) for the Astros going against Daniel Lynch (3-3, 5.12 ERA) for the Royals.

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The Texans are the class of the division. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

The Houston Texans received a lot of praise for their moves in free agency across various outlets. And for good reason, most people believe the team got significantly better with the additions of Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al-Shaair, and Denico Autry among others.

But there's another factor to consider this offseason. How much have the other teams in the AFC South improved?

When looking at the PFF grades in free agency, the Colts received a B-minus. Most of the Colts moves this offseason involved spending a lot of money re-signing their own players. Which is great in theory, but it's hard to improve the overall quality of your roster when you're bringing back players that were already there to begin with. A lot will be riding on player development for the Colts to see a big jump this season. A healthy quarterback wouldn't hurt either.

The Jaguars have made some big additions financially this offseason by signing receiver Gabe Davis and defensive tackle Arik Armstead. They also lost the top receiver on the market, Calvin Ridley, to the Titans. Gabe Davis wasn't able to establish himself as a reliable No. 2 receiver with Josh Allen throwing him the ball in Buffalo. So it's hard to believe he'll take the next step in Jacksonville. Their best move of the offseason might have been retaining edge rusher Josh Allen by using the franchise tag on him. So what did PFF think of Jacksonville's offseason? They received a B-minus, just like the Colts.

The Titans have a lot of turnover heading into the 2024 season, and not just on the roster. They have a new head coach in Brian Callahan, who's looking to revamp Tennessee's offense. Early in free agency, they agreed to terms with former Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, signing him to a 3-year deal at $8 million per season. Which is more money than the Ravens are paying for Derrick Henry, who left the Titans in free agency. Calvin Ridley was the most notable addition to the squad, he received a 4-year, $92 million deal. And while this could be viewed as an overpay, at least he gives the Titans' offense some upside. Their receiving corps looks a lot more dangerous with Ridley added to DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks.

They also spent big at the center position, adding Lloyd Cushenberry on a 4-year, $50 million contract.

Because the Titans spent a lot of money on some highly coveted players, PFF gave them a B.

Now that brings us to the Texans. The Texans re-signed some of their own players like Dalton Schultz and Noah Brown. But they also made some big splashes with Hunter, Autry, Al-Shaair, and Joe Mixon. But the Texans spent their money in a more conservative way by not handing out many contracts over two years in length.

The Texans managed to add the best pass rusher in free agency with Hunter, but it's only a two-year deal. The overall talent level is going up on this roster, and GM Nick Caserio isn't having to sign players to long contracts that could come back and haunt him.

That's why we're seeing post-free agency power rankings coming out with Houston in the Top 10. And that's also why PFF gave the Texans an A for their moves in free agency.

Be sure to check out the video above as Craig from Sports Talk Extra takes an in-depth look at PFF's grades for the AFC South, and much more!

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