Taijuan Walker left a start early for the third time this season with the same foot problem on Tuesday night against the Houston Astros, leaving the Seattle Mariners searching for how to eliminate the issue.
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However last year’s AL Cy Young Award victor will acknowledge that he’s starting to feel more like himself than he did during his struggles early this season. LeBlanc allowed three hits and two runs in six innings of a 5-2 win over Baltimore in his last start.
Astros: Dallas Keuchel (5-9, 5.13 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday.
“Same thing”, he said. I just couldn’t drive it in there.
He is tied with Park Byung-ho of the Minnesota Twins for most home runs by a South Korean player this season. “I just couldn’t drive it in there”.
The Mariners came up empty twice after having a runner on third with no outs.
Houston took an early lead in the first inning.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Wade LeBlanc throws against the Houston Astros in the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 6, 2016, in Houston. “I just happened to have good location on my fastball that day”. “My velo is down”. “My (velocity’s) down. My change-up isn’t as sharp”.
“I already had a cycle in my career”, Carlos Gomez said of looking for the home run in his last at-bat, “my goal is to put good contact on it and see some pitches, he (Diaz) broke my bat in 20 pieces”. He gave up a one-out double to Jason Castro. Houston is 44-39 overall, 24-17 at home and 41-37-5 with the under.
However, the lead was once again short-lived, as Houston scored 4 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
“He’s sore. I expect that he will be in there (Wednesday)”, Servais said. “I don’t know what we’ll do yet. We’ll have a better feel for that probably (Wednesday) or the next day”.
It was a disappointing end to a miserable three-game series in Houston where the Mariners were swept and fell to 43-42 on the season.
Seattle had runners on first and second with one out in the seventh when Smith connected off Michael Feliz to tie it at 7-7.
Keuchel (6-9) held the Mariners to two runs and six hits in six innings before the Astros went to their bullpen for Pat Neshek, Ken Giles and Will Harris.
Hernandez has been on the DL since June 1 with a strained right calf. “Rest, I guess. And see what’s going on with it. See my options”.
One possible alternative is right-hander Nathan Karns, who recently lost his spot in the rotation. Lefty Mike Montgomery is another possibility. He pitched four shutout innings after Walker departed. He was forced out of the game in the fourth inning because continued pain. It was long enough for Altuve to beat out an infield single.
Later in the inning, the Mariners asked for an umpire’s review on A.J. Reed’s two-run homer. Robinson Cano was Seattle’s lone All-Star selection as slugger Nelson Cruz – who hit his 22nd homer on Tuesday – was passed over.
So, technically, the call was overturned. Gomez finished the night a home run shy of a cycle getting three hits and three RBI’s. Fister looks to get back on track after dropping two straight following a seven-game winning streak. His average is up to.277… Dan Robertson, called up from AAA Tacoma Tuesday, started in left field and went 0-for-2. One batter later, Colby Rasmus went yard for a 2-run homer to give the Astros a 3-2 lead.
Nelson Cruz said he was doing okay after fouling a ball off his left foot. He hobbled around for a moment but remained in the game. Manager Scott Servais said: “He’s sore. He smoked the ball off the top of his foot”.
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The right-hander only made it four innings (67 pitches) before the discomfort became too much, and he struggled when on the mound. “The more I push off, the worse”.
