Abraham Toro Terrorizes Houston Astros With Late-Game Heroics

One out away from a series win, Houston Astros closer Ryan Pressly surrendered a two-RBI single to Abraham Toro to give the Seattle Mariners the lead.

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

With two outs, down one run in the ninth inning, Abraham Toro entered the box with runners at second and third base. Pinch hitting for a banged-up Julio Rodríguez, the switch-hitter roped a first-pitch single off Ryan Pressly to right field clearing the bases.

The Houston Astros didn't respond in the bottom half of the frame, dropping their first contest to the Seattle Mariners since the All-Star break. Against his former club, Toro has 19 RBI in 24 games since he was traded last July.

The Mariners worked three runs off Framber Valdez in the first inning after clubbing three singles and reaching on two hit by pitches. But for Valdez, the lefty yielded only two more hits and a walk over his next six innings.

Valdez punched out seven batters en route to his 17th consecutive quality start, 18th on the year. The Astros' franchise record is 20 set by Mike Scott in his 1986 Cy Young campaign.

Accounting for seven frames Saturday, Valdez's 128 2/3 innings rank first in the American League. His bounce-back performance didn't minimize his ERA but held it to 2.80.

Houston Astros Left Fielder Aledmys Díaz / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Valdez's run support didn't arrive until the fifth inning when Aledmys Díaz slashed a solo home run to left field — his third shot against the Mariners in the last two days. Díaz was credited with a second RBI in the sixth inning with a single to bring home Alex Bregman from second base.

The Astros struck the lead in the seventh frame as José Altuve doubled home Martín Maldonado who doubled in his trip to the plate, too. Yuli Gurriel drove home Altuve a batter later for Houston's fourth run.

After dropping their first contest of the four-game set, the Astros look for a series win at 1:10 p.m. Sunday. Jake Odorizzi is scheduled to face off against Mariners' righty George Kirby. 

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