MARINERS DEFEAT ASTROS
Astros drop the finale as Mariners roll to easy 8-1 victory
Sep 25, 2024, 4:27 pm
Kikuchi pitched well despite the loss. Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images.
Mitch Garver and Julio Rodríguez homered, and the Seattle Mariners took advantage of five Houston errors during an 8-1 victory over the Astros on Wednesday.
Seattle (82-77) won for the fifth time in seven games as it tries to rally into an AL wild card. It is chasing Detroit and Kansas City for one of the last two spots.
The Mariners were down 1-0 before rallying in the sixth. Dylan Moore reached on the first of four errors by rookie third baseman Shay Whitcomb, who entered in the fourth. Victor Robles walked and Cal Raleigh hit a one-out single to load the bases.
Justin Turner then extended his on-base streak to 20 consecutive games with his single on a line drive to left field that scored two.
Garver opened the seventh with his 14th homer on a line drive into the seats in left field. The Mariners added two more runs in the inning thanks to three errors by the Astros, including two more by Whitcomb.
A fourth error by Whitcomb allowed Moore to reach with no outs in the ninth, and he scored on a double by Robles. Rodríguez then hit his 20th homer of the season.
Yusei Kikuchi (9-10) struck out eight in six innings in his first loss with Houston. He was charged with two unearned runs and four hits.
The Astros won Kikuchi's first nine starts after he was acquired in a July 29 trade with Toronto. He went 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA during that stretch.
George Kirby (14-11) pitched six innings of four-hit ball in his third consecutive win for Seattle. He struck out six and walked one.
Victor Caratini hit an RBI single in the third for the Astros, who played without many of their regulars a day after clinching their fourth straight AL West title.
There was a special moment for Alex Bregman in the fourth inning of what could be his final regular-season home game at Minute Maid Park. He is eligible for free agency after this season.
Bregman trotted out to third base, but manager Joe Espada lifted him for a defensive replacement before the inning started. Bregman slowly walked to the dugout as he received a standing ovation. He paused before entering the dugout and tipped his cap to the crowd.
Selected by Houston with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 amateur draft, Bregman has spent his entire career with the Astros.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Astros: OF/DH Yordan Alvarez will not travel with the team on its upcoming road trip, instead staying in Houston to receive treatment on his sprained right knee. Espada said Alvarez had improved Wednesday and that some of the swelling had subsided since he was injured on a slide Sunday.
UP NEXT
Mariners: Open a three-game series against the Athletics on Friday night in Seattle.
Astros: Traveling to Cleveland for a three-game series starting Friday night.
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Critical levers Astros can pull as health concerns, deadline pressures grow
Jul 10, 2025, 3:46 pm
Jake Meyers is the latest Astro to be rushed back from injury too soon. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?