You didn’t forget about the Houston Astros earlier this season, did you? On Friday night, they defeated the Seattle Mariners in their second half opener at T-Mobile Park (HOU 3, SEA 0), moving into a virtual tie for first place in the AL West. Houston’s record stands at 51-46 (.5258), just ahead of the Mariners’ 52-47 (.5253). Two more games are scheduled for this weekend.
The Mariners had a rough defensive night on Friday. Errors by Jorge Polanco, JP Crawford, and Josh Rojas hurt them badly. Rojas’ error led to Houston’s three-run third inning. Jose Altuve got an RBI with a bunt single, and Yainer Diaz brought in two more runs with a single, giving the Astros an early lead against Luis Castillo.
Here is the Rojas error and Houston’s go-ahead rally:
https://streamable.com/mlbfilmroom/00u7pewwuk6hsZdw9356/astros-rally-vs-mariners?partnerId=web_multimedia-search_video-share
Hunter Brown pitched six scoreless innings for Houston, allowing only four hits. His new sinker has been magic —he has a 2.55 ERA in 14 appearances since adding it. Before that? A whopping 9.78 ERA in six starts! Bryan Abreu, Ryan Pressly, and Josh Hader came out of the bullpen to secure Houston’s ninth win in July.
Astros’ Remarkable Comeback:
The Astros started this season terribly with an 0-4 record and were down to 12-24 by May 8th. As recently as June 18th, they were trailing the Mariners by ten games in AL West standings. But since then? They’ve gone on an incredible run of 18-6 while Seattle stumbled to an 8-16 record. That’s how you erase a ten-game deficit!
Fans might think it’s amazing how quickly things can change in baseball.
According to Elias Sports Bureau: “Since 1969, no team had ever lost a ten-game lead faster than over thirty-three games.” The Mariners lost theirs in just twenty-four games!
The second place team in AL West isn’t guaranteed a wild-card spot either. The Astros were still behind by three and a half games for that third wild-card spot as of Friday night’s game start time—so much baseball left yet anything could happen.
Despite losing on Friday night though—the Mariners still lead their season series against Astros five-to-three so far; after this weekend they’ll meet again September twenty-third through twenty-fifth at Minute Maid Park which could be crucial considering it’s right before regular season ends!
This weekend continues with another game Saturday afternoon featuring George Kirby (7-7) pitching against Framber Valdez (8-5).
What do you think will happen next?
