Mariners snap 15-game losing streak against Astros, record first win of season
That was the loudest clubhouse Mariners manager Scott Servais had heard in some time.
It had been nearly two years since Seattle had won a game on the road in Houston. But, Sunday afternoon at Minute Maid Park, the Mariners, now loaded with exciting up-and-comers ended that drought — and snapped a 15-game winning streak against the Astros — with a 7-5 win.
Rookie outfielder Kyle Lewis showed up again with a clutch base hit in the eighth that gave Seattle its final two run lead.
Rookie reliever Anthony Misiewicz sat the Astros down in order in the bottom half of that inning, and bullpen newcomer Taylor Williams, a Vancouver, Wash. native, held on against Houston’s heavy hitters in the ninth to notch his first career save.
So started the clubhouse celebration as the Mariners (1-2) secured their first win of this shortened 2020 season.
“Those guys are pretty excited,” Servais said on a video call with reporters postgame.
The Mariners got contributions from up and down the lineup with seven players logging at least one hit.
They jumped on former Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke early, putting up a pair of runs in the first. A double from Kyle Seager drove in Lewis, and rookie Evan White followed up with a single to score Seager, recording the first RBI of his young career.
Greinke was pulled with one out in the fourth after serving up a double to Tim Lopes, who finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base.
“The hitters looked good today,” Lopes said. “K-Lew’s been swinging out of his mind. Seager’s been swinging the bat well. J.P (Crawford). Shed (Long Jr.).
“I felt like it was a big team effort today against Greinke. We got to him early, which is nice to see. Hitting can be contagious a lot of the time.”
Doubles from Mallex Smith and Long later that inning extended Seattle’s lead to 4-1, if only briefly.
Much like they did in the first two games of the series, the Astros put together another big inning mid-game, this time stringing together four runs in the fourth.
Making his first start of the season, Yusei Kikuchi, after recording back-to-back clean innings in the second and third, struggled to replicate that success in the fourth.
“Plain and simple, I wasn’t able to find the zone there in the fourth inning, and I wasn’t able to make my adjustments and the inning just kind of went on,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Kevin Ando.
A single from Michael Brantley sandwiched between a pair of walks issued to Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman loaded the bases with no outs. A single by Yuli Gurriel then scored a run.
It appeared Kikuchi might get out of the inning without further damage after back-to-back strikeouts of Carlos Correa and Kentwood High School product Taylor Jones, who was making his big league debut.
But, Kikuchi then walked Josh Reddick, forcing in another run, and a Martin Maldonado base hit scored two more. Kikuchi was pulled trailing 5-4 after 70 pitches, allowing the five runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts. He allowed another run in the first on a Bregman double that bounced off Lopes’ glove in left.
“You have to stay in the moment, and I think today he got ahead of himself, thinking down the road,” Servais said of Kikuchi’s fourth inning. “Then all the sudden you look up it’s a walk, soft single, another walk, bases are loaded nobody out.
“And I thought he was going to wiggle through it, it just didn’t happen for him today.”
Servais was encouraged by how Kikuchi’s fastball and revamped delivery was playing for much of the start.
“Overall all of my pitches were working pretty well, I think I just need to attack the zone more and be aggressive in the zone,” Kikuchi said.
Though the Mariners still trailed entering the eighth, a quick rally capped by Lewis’ base hit put them back in front for the final time. Lopes opened the inning with a single and stole second base. Pinch-hitting for catcher Joe Hudson, Austin Nola drew a walk. Long drove in the tying run on a single to right.
Then came Lewis. After falling behind 0-2 to reliable Houston reliever Chris Devenski, Lewis watched a pair of balls go by and fouled off a slider before jumping on a fastball and pushing it far enough into right field to score both runs. Long made a quality dive to avoid the tag at the plate.
“When the lights are on, he likes to show up,” Servais said of Lewis. “Even though there’s not 40,000 people here, certainly we know there’s a lot of Mariner fans out there, and we made them all happy this Sunday afternoon.”
PLUS: For the first time this season, Seattle’s bullpen was spotless in relief. Zac Grotz ended the jam in the fourth, and Matt Magill, Carl Edwards Jr., Dan Altavilla, Misiewicz and Williams followed with clean innings of work.
Williams, a Camas High School product, allowed a leadoff double to Kyle Tucker in the ninth before striking out both George Springer and Altuve.
Michael Brantley pulled a RBI ground-rule double to right to cut the lead to 7-6, but Williams came back with a swinging strikeout of Bregman.
MINUS: Though their seven runs on 11 hits proved enough to notch their first win of the season, the Mariners still stranded 19 runners on base.
STAT PACK: Lewis has hit safely in each of Seattle’s first three games in his first full season with the club. After finishing 2-for-4 on Sunday, he is 4-for-11 with two homers, four RBI, two walks and six strikeouts so far this season. He is slugging at .909.
QUOTABLE: Williams on his first major league save: “Obviously getting your first save is pretty cool. It’s a pretty surreal moment. I was a Mariners fan growing up, so it’s a blessing just being able to put this jersey on every single day. Going out there and getting my first career save as a Mariner definitely means a lot to me.”
ON DECK: The Mariners and Astros conclude their four-game series at 4:10 p.m. Monday. Mariners right-hander Kendall Graveman is scheduled to make his first big league start since 2018 after a long recovery from Tommy John surgery. He will oppose Houston righty Josh James.
This story was originally published July 26, 2020 at 2:53 PM.
