Maybin repeats himself
For second game in a row, new acquisition delivers decisive 2-run homer late for win
SEATTLE — Lance McCullers Jr. took his first step toward quelling lingering uncertainty about his performance with a solid first start off the disabled list Wednesday night against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.
In a 5-3 victory that extended the Astros’ winning streak to seven and lowered their magic number to nine, McCullers didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning and pitched efficiently enough to get into the sixth.
The 23-year-old righthander, who hadn’t pitched since July 30 because of what the team described as “back discomfort,” displayed better fastball control than he had before his DL stint.
McCullers completed 51⁄3 in-
nings and was charged with three earned runs, one of which scored with Will Harris on the mound. The No. 3 starter allowed only four hits, three in the sixth, and issued just one walk. He also hit a batter, losing control of a fifth-inning fastball that hit Mike Zunino on the bill of his batting helmet.
McCullers struck out four and induced only five swings and misses, each on curveballs, in a 76-pitch sample.
He figures to garner four more starts before the postseason to fully regain the form that earned him a spot on the American League squad in the AllStar Game in July.
Cameron Maybin for the second consecutive night provided the gamewinning swing for the Astros (86-53), clanking a two-run homer off the right-field foul pole in the ninth inning off a 100 mph fastball from Mariners flamethrower Edwin Diaz. Maybin, who joined the Astros on Saturday, has three homers in 16 at-bats with his new team.
Chris Devenski, who got the final out of the eighth, converted the save in the ninth with closer Ken Giles unavailable. Francis Martes pitched 12⁄3 scoreless innings of relief to bridge the gap to Devenski.
A solo blast by Astros killer Kyle Seager to lead off the fifth inning signified Seattle’s first hit and narrowed the Astros’ lead to 2-1. The Mariners’ tworun sixth put them ahead 3-2, before the Astros tied the game in the seventh on a run-scoring single by George Springer. Carlos Beltran led off the ninth with a double before Maybin’s homer.