McCullers’ outing eases some doubts

Lance McCullers Jr. took a first step toward quelling lingering doubts stemming from his struggle-filled July 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

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 in his last string of starts before his DL stint.

McCullers completed 51⁄3 innings and was charged with three earned runs, one of which scored with Will Harris on the mound. McCullers allowed four hits, three in the sixth, and issued one walk.

McCullers struck out four and induced just five swings and misses, each on curveballs, in a 76-pitch sample. He figures to garner four more starts before the postseason to try to fully regain the form that earned him a spot in the All-Star Game.

“I think the conviction in his pitches is what I was the most impressed with,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s a really tough guy to face for the other side. When we get him rolling and we get him with that sort of mojo and moxie that he can pitch with, he can do a lot of damage. He’s going to be key for us.”

McCullers’ fastball sat 94-95 mph and maxed out at 97 mph. He lamented his pitch selection in some instances but said overall he “couldn’t have really felt much better.”

“I just wanted the guys on the team to know that I’m healthy, I’m good to go,” he said. “Yeah, I had a couple balls get hit and a couple runs came across. But that’s pretty much vintage me, being able to throw my heater to both sides pretty aggressively and being able to throw curveballs.”