“I want to win as many games as we can”, manager A.J. Hinch told MLB.com after the Astros closed out pre-All-Star break play with a 10-inning victory, “and I don’t care what order we win them in”. One of the wild pitches hit dirt about a foot in front of home plate and allowed runner Carlos Correa to score from second base.
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Two teams coming off vastly different Junes met in Houston just before the All-Star break, and nobody should have been too surprised at the Astros’ sweep of the Seattle Mariners.
Correa’s two-out double off Seattle starter James Paxton (2-4) gave the Astros a 5-0 lead and he scampered home from second moments later when Paxton’s third wild pitch of the inning ricocheted off catcher Chris Iannetta over to the third base dugout. The 27-year-old allowed two runs while throwing an efficient 78 pitches over eight innings in last Thursday’s outing against Kansas City.
It was also the 10th time the Astros have led off a game with a home run.
Carlos Correa broke the game open in the fifth inning when he rapped a double off the wall in left-center field. George Springer scored earlier in the inning on a wild pitch.
Doug Fister gave the Astros four shutout innings before running into trouble in the fifth. But Iwakuma got Colby Rasmus to ground out to Cano to end the inning. Paxton, who has worked at least six frames in five of his last seven starts, yielded two runs and struck out seven over seven innings in his only previous turn against the Astros on April 30, 2015.WALK-OFFS1. He is slated to start for Seattle on July 20 against the White Sox.
Mariners: Hisashi Iwakuma (9-6) goes for his 10th win.
Astros: RHP Colin McHugh (5-6, 4.50) will make his 19th start of the season against the Mariners. Over his past five starts against the Astros, dating back to 2014, Iwakuma has gone 0-4 with an ERA of 7.50. McHugh has allowed three earned runs or less in five straight starts.
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