Houston Astros shut down Seattle Mariners on Friday
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners already knew that the series against the Houston Astros was going to be difficult. They ended up making it much harder for themselves and were shut out 3-0 on Friday at T-Mobile Park. The loss dropped Seattle to 52-47 on the season and pulled Houston (51-46) even with the Mariners in the American League West standings.
"We were all jazzed up and ready to go — unfortunately we didn't give (the fans) much to get loud about," Mariners manager Scott Servais said in a postgame interview Friday. "I thought Luis threw the ball really well, we just had that hiccup there in the third inning. ... We got to keep on going. Our group understands where we're at. Offense has been a struggle for us here. (We're) trying different things to unlock it and get it going."
Friday was Seattle's first game in five days, and it played like it at times.
The Mariners committed three errors during the game. The first and the last of them — top of the first and top of the fifth — didn't end up mattering too much aside from dings on JP Crawford and Jorge Polanco's fielding percentages. The Astros took advantage of the second one.
Houston's Trey Cabbage scored on a throwing error committed by Seattle third baseman Josh Rojas. Yainer Diaz accounted for the Astros' other two runs with a two-RBI single three at-bats later.
YAINER COMING IN CLUTCH pic.twitter.com/IrSsGwZbXR
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 20, 2024
Seattle had chances after Diaz's two-run knock. In the bottom of the third, the Mariners loaded the bases with two outs. They failed to bring a run home. It was the fifth time in three games Seattle failed to score with the bases loaded. The Mariners also had a chance with runners on first and second in the bottom of the fifth but grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
There wasn't much else to say for Seattle other than that. Luis Castillo had a solid game aside from the three-run third and had his third quality start in a row. But it went to waste and Castillo was dinged with the loss (8-10). Victor Robles continued to do well and was the only player to have two hits in the game. But it didn't amount to any runs.
The Mariners have two games left in the series, but there's a lot working against them. Houston has the best record in the league since June 1, according to Statmuse, and Seattle is now without the lead in the AL West for the first time since May 11.
On Friday there was a firework show after the game to celebrate the 25th anniversary of T-Mobile Park. But the nine innings that happened before made everything seem like a whimper rather than a bang.
And the Mariners lost for the first time this season in their City Connect uniforms. When it rains...
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