4/8/25

(Seattle, WA) After a wild opening game of the three-game series between the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros, the two teams would look to figure things out offensively and get a cleaner win in game two on Tuesday night.

Both teams got veteran pitchers in game two as Luis Castillo took on Framber Valdez in a battle between two very familiar foes. While neither offense clicked, Seattle’s defensive miscues ended up costing them as they did one of the toughest things to do in baseball…lose without allowing an earned run.

Astros 2, Mariners 1 (12 Innings) (Game 2, April 8th)

Both teams left runners in scoring position early which helped both Framber Valdez and Luis Castillo settle in. Both starters got better as the game went on, but for Castillo it came with a price to pay. La Piedra’s pitch count was in serious trouble and he was pulled after facing just one batter in the 6th. Eduard Bazardo helped close the book on Castillo’s outing as he went five innings of scoreless ball, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out six. Valdez was completely dominant after a slow start and finished with six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out eight.

The game would come down to a battle of the bullpens however and Collin Snider was the second reliever in for the Mariners. With one out, Dylan  Moore handled a grounder but a wild throw allowed Yainer Diaz to reach second with one out. Cam Smith then cashed in with his first career RBI with a triple down the left field line. A second day in a row with a costly error from Moore at third had the Astros up 1-0.

Tayler Scott tried to bounce back from a rough outing in the opener but immediately gave up a single to Mitch Garver to begin the inning. Garver then surprised everyone with his first stolen base since 2022. Luke Raley smoked a grounder that went off of the glove of Brendan Rogers and into shallow right center. Garver came around to score on the Raley base hit and we were back to even at 1-1.

Seattle was abysmal at the plate with runners in scoring position while the Mariner bullpen continued to dominate a struggling Houston lineup. Josh Hader ran right through the Mariners in the 9th and 10th while Andrés Muñoz spun a scoreless 10th himself.

In the 11th, Seattle elected to walk Yordan Alvarez to put runners on first and second to begin the inning. Jesse Hahn would get Christian Walker to hit a swinging bunt to move runners to second and third with one out. Another intentional walk to Jeremy Peña loaded the bases for Brendan Rogers. He would hit a chopper to Moore at third who survived a little bobble, stepped on third and threw across his body back to first for a magnificent double play. Just like that the M’s were out of trouble and had a chance to walk it off in the home half.

Julio Rodríguez began the inning at second with Ryan Gusto taking over on the mound. J-Rod capitalized on Jose Altuve’s weak outfield arm and moved up to third on Cal Raleigh’s fly out to left. Randy Arozarena drew a walk to put runners on the corners before some questionable decisions were made. Seattle elected to let Mitch Garver hit instead of pinch hitting Jorge Polanco and also did not continue their trend of stealing bases at will against the Astros. It would cost them as Garver hit into a 6-4-3 inning ending double play to send the game to the 12th.

This time, Houston got to Hahn. A sacrifice bunt by Chas McCormick followed by an RBI single for Victor Caratini gave the Astros a 2-1 lead. Steven Okert entered for the Astros and the Mariners needed to get Mitch Garver in from second. Miles Mastrobuoni moved him over to third with a groundout before Luke Raley and Ryan Bliss both struck out. Seattle went 1-19 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday and it cost them in a 2-1 loss to Houston.

Notable Performances

Astros

Mariners

• Luis Castillo (ND)- 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
• Luke Raley- 1-5, RBI
• Ryan Bliss- 1-5, 2B

What’s Next

Both teams burned through their bullpens which makes Wednesday’s rubber game of the series very difficult. It is a quick turnaround as the finale is scheduled for a 1:10pm start on Wednesday afternoon and it will be even tougher for the Mariners. First, their lineup will have to face Hunter Brown (1-1, 3.00 ERA) who can eat up innings. Brown went six innings in each of his first two starts of the season and has 40 career strikeouts against the Mariners in just 28 innings. Luis F. Castillo (0-0, 9.00 ERA) will make his second career start for the Mariners. Castillo only went three innings in his first start and gave up three runs against the Giants.

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