Houston drops first of three
Mariners heat up late to take series opener over Astros
Sep 21, 2020, 10:47 pm
Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
Astros Jose Altuve
With the playoffs just a little over a week away, the Astros started their last week of regular-season games in Seattle against the Mariners. A couple of wins against them would secure Houston's spot as the AL West's second playoff participant, with Oakland all but having locked up the first spot sitting six games in front of Houston with seven left to play. Here is a quick rundown of the opener from T-Mobile Park:
Final Score: Mariners 6, Astros 1.
Record: 27-27, second in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Marco Gonzalez (7-2, 3.06 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Lance McCullers Jr. (3-3, 4.24 ERA).
Bitter end to an impressive start for McCullers Jr.
Both starting pitchers would take a scoreless deep late into Monday night's game. While the Astros were trying to figure out Marco Gonzalez, Lance McCullers Jr. was repeating the success of his last start, a seven-inning two-hit start against the Rangers.
McCullers Jr. allowed a two-out walk in the bottom of the first inning, then proceeded to retire the next fourteen batters before a one-out double in the bottom of the sixth gave the Mariners their first hit of the night. He would go on to finish the sixth before things unraveled in the seventh.
A leadoff walk would result in a run after an error by Jose Altuve left runners on first and second, setting up an RBI-double to give the Mariners the first run of the night and a 1-0 lead. McCullers Jr. looked like he was going to cap off his night by stranding the runners on second and third after back-to-back strikeouts, but before he could get the last out of the inning allowed a three-run home run to blow the game open at 4-0. His final line: 6.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, 102 P.
Mariners take the opener
Despite getting several hits against him along the way, Houston could not get anything substantial going against Gonzalez, who would shutout the Astros over eight innings of work. After Enoli Paredes finished the seventh, Brandon Bielak would take over out of Houston's bullpen for the bottom of the eighth.
He struggled mightily, loading the bases with no outs, including a hit batter before allowing a two-RBI single to extend Seattle's lead to 6-0. The Astros would get on the board in the top of the ninth, getting a two-out double by Carlos Correa, who would score on an RBI-single by Josh Reddick. That would be too little, too late as the 6-1 score would go final as the Mariners took the opener, keeping the Astros' magic number at two.
Up Next: The middle game of this three-game set will be another 8:10 PM Central start on Tuesday. On the mound will be Framber Valdez (4-3, 3.82 ERA) for the Astros and Ljay Newsome (0-1, 6.35 ERA) for the Mariners.
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Altuve’s milestone homer sparks Astros past Yankees
Aug 10, 2025, 4:24 pm
Trent Grisham hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning and the New York Yankees beat the Houston Astros 5-4 on Saturday after blowing a two-run lead.
Grisham snapped a 4-all tie when he drove a full-count fastball off Bryan King (3-3) into the second deck in right field.
Grisham homered after Camilo Doval and David Bednar (5-3) combined to blow a 4-2 lead in the eighth, when the Yankees were charged with two errors. Doval was charged with a throwing error on a grounder by Jesús Sánchez and left fielder Jasson Domínguez committed another on an RBI single by Jose Altuve.
Bednar was one strike away from getting the second out but walked Christian Walker. He kept the game tied by striking out Yanier Diaz and Taylor Trammell.
Giancarlo Stanton drove in two runs, including an RBI single in the fifth that gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead. Stanton started in right in his first appearance in the field since playing left field at Fenway Park on Sept. 14, 2023. He caught a lineout by Carlos Correa to end the first for his first chance in right field since Sept. 9, 2023, and was lifted after seven innings.
Luis Gil allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings, becoming the first Yankee starter to get an out in the sixth since July 30. Gil struck out seven and walked one after struggling with his command in his season debut on Sunday.
Stanton drew a bases-loaded walk in his first appearance against Framber Valdez before singling to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.
Ben Rice lifted a sacrifice fly after Stanton walked and Cody Bellinger scored on the catcher’s double-play grounder in the fifth.
Jeremy Pena hit a leadoff homer and Correa hit a tying RBI single in the fourth as the Astros lost for the 17th time in 27 games.
Key moment
Bednar pitched a 1-2-3 ninth after the Yankees regained the lead.
Key stat
Grisham had three hits for the first time since July 6. He entered the game with five hits in his previous 36 at-bats.
Up next
New York LHP Max Fried (12-4, 2.78 ERA) pitches Sunday’s series finale. The Astros did not announce a starter