Houston 4, Seattle 3
When: 8:10 PM ET, Friday, May 1, 2015
Where: Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas
Temperature:
81°
Umpires:
Home -
Larry Vanover, 1B -
Ron Kulpa, 2B -
Brian Knight, 3B -
Victor Carapazza
Attendance:
21834
By The Sports Xchange
HOUSTON -- Five relievers combined for five innings of quality work and the Houston Astros bashed three home runs in a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night at Minute Maid Park.
The Astros (16-7) extended their winning streak to eight games thanks in large part to the collaborative effort of right-handers Josh Fields (1-0), Pat Neshek, Chad Qualls and Luke Gregerson and lefty Kevin Chapman.
The quintet allowed three hits and had seven strikeouts, with Gregerson giving up two solo home runs in the ninth inning.
Designated hitter Nelson Cruz smacked his American League-leading 11th home run to snap a string of nine consecutive batters retired, and two batters later first baseman Logan Morrison followed with a shot to right field. But the rally wasn't quite enough to save the Mariners (10-13) from a second consecutive loss.
Fields struck out four of the five batters he faced. Left-hander Roenis Elias (0-1) was saddled for the loss.
Designated hitter Evan Gattis, center fielder Jake Marisnick and right fielder George Springer all clubbed home runs for the Astros.
With right-hander and middle reliever Samuel Deduno pressed into duty, the onus was on the Astros to score quickly in support of their spot starter and for Deduno to work as long as possible before surrendering to the bullpen.
Gattis took care of the first concern, drilling a two-run homer to left field in the first inning off Elias, with scoring second baseman Jose Altuve for a 2-0 lead. Houston tacked on a run in the third when Marisnick belted a solo homer, also into the Crawford Boxes in left.
Deduno lasted just four innings, but his outing was eventful.
He stranded two base runners in the first inning, including center fielder Austin Jackson at third base. Deduno left another base runner at third in the fourth, getting consecutive groundouts after Morrison stroked a one-out triple to center field.
The only inning in which Deduno retired the side in order came in the second. He did give up an RBI double to Seattle second baseman Robinson Cano in the third but completed his outing with a 3-1 lead having surrendered just three hits and two walks while striking out four.
NOTES: Mariners RHP Hisashi Iwakuma remains three to four weeks from activation off the 15-day disabled list and has initiated a long-toss regimen as part of his rehabilitation. Iwakuma (0-1, 6.61 ERA) was placed on the DL on April 24 (retroactive to April 21) with a strained right latissimus dorsi. ... Astros LHP Dallas Keuchel, a strong candidate for American League Pitcher of the Month, went 3-0 with a 0.73 ERA in April, the lowest ERA in franchise history for any pitcher after his first five starts of the season. Keuchel leads the AL in innings (37) and has the lowest opponents' batting average (.130) in the majors. ... After posting a 4.95 ERA inr the opening 12 games of the season through April 19, the Mariners compiled a 2.73 ERA in the final 10 games of April, the third-lowest ERA in the AL during that span. Seattle had the highest ERA in the AL before April 20.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Seattle |
|
Houston |
|
Roenis Elias
|
Player |
Samuel Deduno |
|
Loss |
W/L |
No Decision |
|
6.0 |
IP |
4.0 |
|
8 |
Strikeouts |
4 |
|
6 |
Hits |
3 |
|
4.50 |
ERA |
2.25 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Seattle
|
6 |
2 |
15 |
.182 |
9 |
11 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| Houston
|
9 |
3 |
18 |
.310 |
10 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
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