Seth Smith #7 of the Seattle Mariners is congratulated by Norichika Aoki #8 and Shawn O’Malley #36 after hitting a three-run homer in the fourth inning against the Houston Astros at Safeco Field on September 18, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. Seattle (79-70) went on to snap its two-game losing streak while maintaining a three-game separation behind American League wild-card leader Baltimore.
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“We are playing really good ball and to come in here and kind of throw a clunker out there, not exactly what we were looking for tonight, but it does happen”, Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “We just never give up and fight every game”.
After two days of frustrating defeats, the Mariners found their missing offense and got a solid start from Ariel Miranda to salvage a win in the three-game series with Astros on Sunday. He makes his eighth start this season for the Mariners, Miranda is 3-1 with 3.49 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 38 2/3 innings. The next step is to make a push for the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays.
Miranda (5-1) allowed two runs – on two solo homers – and three hits in seven innings. Before Saturday’s game, Houston manager A.J. Hinch praised Fiers’ perseverance, a quality that paid off against Seattle. “We’ve just got to keep fighting”.
Smith had a solo shot in the third and a three-run shot in the fourth, both on 3-1 pitches from Doug Fister (12-12).
Yulieski Gurriel, who has been playing major-league baseball for about a month, looked like a veteran, getting on top of a chest-high, 98 miles per hour fastball from Paxton and driving it through the left side to score both runners. He has not been able to match his performance of the last two seasons, largely due to an elevated home run rate and a depressed strikeout rate.
James Paxton (4-7) was flawless through five innings before allowing both runs in the sixth. He is 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA in three career starts against the Blue Jays but has not faced them this season. “He’s the consummate pro, so we’ll expect him to be better next time”.
Astros: RHP Brad Peacock (0-0, 2.70) will make his third start, seventh appearance, in his effort to win his first game since 2014. Gattis led off the fifth with his 27th home run of the season, then Gonzalez added his 13th homer two batters later.
Houston Astros’ Tyler White slides safely across home as Seattle Mariners catcher Mike Zunino follows through on a tag during the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, in Seattle.
Carlos Correa also had a solo home run in the seventh, his 20th.
Seattle, which had just one run and 10 hits in the first two games of the series, broke out for 11 hits and seven runs on Sunday.
And they weren’t satisfied with the accomplishment, continuing to add to their total throughout the game, thanks in large part to Seth Smith.
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Mariners: 1B Adam Lind had not played since September 12 with a sprained finger in his right hand but was back in the lineup Sunday, missing five games. Ariel Miranda takes the hill, and he’s 4-1 with a 4.10 ERA and 30 strikeouts this season. Houston had 3B Yuli Gurriel back in the No. 2 spot in the order Sunday, one day after he delivered the game-winning runs out of that spot. Houston opens a three-game series at Oakland on Monday.
