Houston has won four straight
Kyle Tucker's walk-off homer for Astros completes sweep of Mariners
With the series victory already locked up, the Astros were going for the clean sweep on Sunday against the Mariners and looking for their fourth-straight win. A quick rundown of Sunday's series finale:
Final Score: Astros 3, Mariners 2.
Record: 11-10, third in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Ryan Pressly (1-1, 6.35 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Erik Swanson (0-2, 15.19 ERA).
Trading runs early
After a scoreless first inning on both sides, the Astros took advantage of another defensive miscue by Seattle in the bottom of the second to grab an early lead. Abraham Toro, a late addition to the lineup in the DH spot with Yordan Alvarez being a late scratch, was able to reach base on a two-out error. He would come around to score on back-to-back singles by Martin Maldonado and George Springer, putting Houston ahead 1-0.
Seattle responded by manufacturing some runs of their own in the next inning, getting a runner on base by a hit-by-pitch to lead it off. They turned that into run with an RBI-single, then took a 2-1 lead with another later in the inning. The Astros would tie the game in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI-single by Martin Maldonado.
McCullers Jr. with another impressive start as game stays tied late
Despite the two-run third inning, Lance McCullers Jr. was still putting together another strong start. That was the only inning he allowed a hit over the first five, then returned to start the sixth. He allowed a leadoff double to start the top of the sixth, but with his pitch count rising and after allowing a two-out walk, would have Dusty Baker come to make a move to the bullpen. Andre Scrubb would get the final out of the inning, closing out McCullers Jr.'s line: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7K, 0 HR.
Nasty. #ForTheHpic.twitter.com/WxWkaM01RQ
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 16, 2020
Scrubb returned for the top of the seventh, but after two outs would be removed in favor of Houston's next reliever, Enoli Paredes. He would get the final out of the sixth, and continued on in the seventh, getting one out and allowing a single before Houston would move to Blake Taylor, who finished the inning despite allowing a walk.
Astros walk it off
Houston would fail to go-ahead in the bottom of the eighth, keeping it a 2-2 stalemate heading to the ninth. With Ryan Pressly already warmed up, he would take the top of the inning and be able to keep Seattle off the board with a 1-2-3 inning. That set the Astros up for a walk-off, and Kyle Tucker would oblige with a solo home run to complete the sweep and extend Houston's winning streak to four games.
"Ballgame" - @KTuck30 🎳#ForTheHpic.twitter.com/MP7s6f13ke
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 16, 2020
Up Next: The Astros will close out this homestand with two games against the Rockies, the first being Monday at 8:10 PM Central. The pitching matchup will be Kyle Freeland (2-0, 2.45 ERA) on the mound for Colorado going against Brandon Bielak (2-0, 1.76 ERA) for Houston.
