Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais had every right to laud the performance of his club on Thursday, given the circumstances that accompanied the opener of their four-game road series against the defending World Series champions.
The Mariners arrived in Houston an hour or so prior to sunrise after playing in San Francisco on Wednesday night yet summoned the vigor to pull out a 5-1 victory over the Astros.
Some of their success was tied to the decision to send starting pitcher George Kirby to Houston early, and Kirby responded by carrying a shutout into the seventh inning. The Mariners got an additional boost from the longball, with Eugenio Suarez and J.P. Crawford combining for three home runs to pace the offense on a night in which fatigue could have served as an additional foe.
“Again, these guys are dragging,” Servais said. “Ton of credit to our team to show up. Energy was good knowing that you’re tired but you know who your opposition is. You’ve got to bring your best game to beat them and we played a really good ballgame.”
Right-hander Luis Castillo (5-6, 3.05 ERA) is the scheduled starter for the Mariners on Friday. He did not factor into the decision of his last start, a 7-6 home victory against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday after allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits with six strikeouts over six innings.
Castillo, who had dropped four consecutive decisions before defeating the Washington Nationals on June 26, is tied for seventh in the American League with 114 strikeouts.
Castillo is 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA in two career starts against the Astros. In his most recent appearance against them, he allowed four runs on five hits and one walk with five strikeouts over seven innings but did not factor into the decision of a 6-4 home loss on May 5.
Rookie right-hander Hunter Brown (6-5, 3.76) has the starting assignment for Houston on Friday. He allowed three runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts over four innings in a 5-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Saturday and is winless over his past three starts, posting an 0-2 record with a 5.74 ERA. Brown has 20 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings in that span.
Brown will face the Mariners in the regular season for the first time. In two postseason appearances against Seattle in the 2022 AL Division Series, he worked three scoreless innings while allowing two hits and one walk with one strikeout.
The Astros opened their final series of the first half with another anemic offensive showing. Houston mustered just one extra-base hit against four Mariners pitchers with rookie Corey Julks, who finished 3-for-3 with the lone RBI, accounting for nearly half of the Astros’ seven hits.
With Jose Altuve (oblique) joining Yordan Alvarez (oblique) and Michael Brantley (shoulder) on the injured list, the Astros will continue to scramble. Houston manager Dusty Baker burned his designated hitter in the seventh inning when he pinch hit for nine-hole hitter Martin Maldonado with Bligh Madris, who carried a .118 average to the plate. Madris promptly struck out.
“The challenge (of constructing a lineup) is who I think matches up with that particular pitcher, how they’re swinging at that time,” Baker said. “I go on stats also, who’s hitting who well. Some of these guys haven’t faced anybody but they have some projected numbers. I try to use all those things when it comes to the lineup.”
–Field Level Media
