9/24/24

(Houston, TX) Looking to build off the momentum of taking the opener of the three-game series, the Seattle Mariners would try to keep their slim AL West hopes alive against the Houston Astros. Needing a sweep to have any chance at winning the division in the final week, the Mariners would have their guy on the mound in Logan Gilbert solely focused on the division but still keeping an eye on the AL Wild Card race as well. Houston would be looking to win their seventh AL West title in the last eight seasons. To do so, Framber Valdez would have to defeat the lone team that has had his number all year in the Mariners.

Astros 4, Mariners 3 (Game Two, September 24th)

While Seattle got a couple of runners on in the 1st, Framber Valdez was able to escape the two-out jam. Logan Gilbert also got a quick two outs, but it took just one swing for Houston to do some damage off of the All-Star. Alex Bregman would get a fastball that Gilbert did not get to the top of the zone for the first pitch of the AB. Bregman was all over it and crushed a bomb to center for his 26th homer of the season. The solo blast gave Houston the early lead at 1-0.

It would not take long for the Mariners to erase that deficit. Two pitches into the top of the 2nd, Valdez would make a big mistake and left a sinker right over the heart of the plate. Jorge Polanco would not need the Crawford Boxes in left to leave the yard and destroyed the pitch right down the middle for his 16th home run of the season, tying the game at 1-1.

Logan bounced back with a quick and clean bottom of the 2nd and the offense kept building momentum from there. In the top of the 3rd, Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh reached on back-to-back singles to begin the inning. Next up was Randy Arozarena and he kept the hit parade alive. A screamer sliced into right center for a third consecutive base hit. Rodríguez came around to score while Raleigh got the stop sign at third on Randy’s 32nd double of the season. That gave the Mariners their first lead at 2-1 but they would get another. Jorge Polanco once again drove in a run with a line drive to left field for an RBI single. Seattle got two in the top of the 3rd to make it 3-1 Mariners.

A double play prevented the Mariners from adding on more and the power of the Astros lineup reared its ugly head in the 4th. Logan Gilbert became just the sixth Mariner in franchise history to put together a season with 200 innings and 200 strikeouts. The celebration was short lived. Beginning the inning, perennial MVP candidate Kyle Tucker took advantage of a hanging curveball from Gilbert and sent it sky high to right. It would just stay fair to quickly end Gilbert’s celebration as Tucker’s 23rd homer of the season cut the Seattle lead to 3-2.

Things continued to go from bad to worse for the Mariners in the 5th. With nobody on and one out in the top of the inning, Cal Raleigh sent a 110-mph line drive out to left. Jason Heyward went back and made a great catch as his hand crashed through a metal panel on the Houston scoreboard and knocked the panel out of place. Heyward was OK and stayed in the game. He ended up being more than just OK. In the bottom half of the frame, Victor Caratini reached on a leadoff single before moving up on a sacrifice bunt by Jeremy Peña. It did not matter where Caratini was. Heyward came to the plate and just like he did when he was with the Dodgers back in August, he dealt massive damage to the M’s. Heyward sent a fastball 397-feet to flip the score with his 10th home run of the season. The two-run shot changed the vibes as the Astros took a 4-3 lead.

Seattle immediately threatened in the top of the 6th. Justin Turner led off the inning with a base hit to right before a sacrifice bun attempt by Jorge Polanco turned into a bunt single. With runners on first and second and nobody out, Mitch Garver would move the runners up with a soft groundout to short. That put men on second and third with one out. Framber Valdez would strikeout J.P. Crawford for the second out before exiting the game and handing the ball to Bryan Abreu. With two outs, Luke Raley pinch hit for Dylan Moore trying to tie the game up. Instead, it was a wasted opportunity. Raley grounded out to Caratini at first to end the inning and the threat with Seattle still trailing 4-3.

The score stayed the same into the 8th when Ryan Pressly took over on the mound for Houston. After retiring Randy Arozarena, Pressly gave Justin Turner a free pass via the walk to put the tying run on. Leo Rivas ran for Turner and moved up to second on the fourth hit of the game by Jorge Polanco. With two men on and one out, Rivas moved up to third on a wild pitch to again put the tying run 90-feet away with one out. Mitch Garver would send a fly ball to left field that wasn’t quite deep enough to drive in Rivas. With two away, J.P. Crawford worked a 2-2 count against closer Josh Hader. On a slider, Crawford would try to check his swing but to no avail. Crawford went down on strikes to end another Seattle threat. That would be the last one as Hader retired the side in order in the 9th to end the game and the race for the AL West with Houston coming out on top 4-3.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Astros

• Jason Heyward- 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Alex Bregman- 2-4, HR, RBI, R
• Framber Valdez (W, 15-7)- 5.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO