Correa shines as Astros sink Mariners
Carlos Correa homered and finished with three hits and two RBIs to lead the Houston Astros to a 6-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
Marwin Gonzalez had a two-run homer and also doubled to help the Astros win for the third time in four games.
Correa’s homer came off Taijuan Walker (2-2) with two outs in the first inning. It was his second home run in three games after not homering in the previous 24 games.
Evan Gattis reached on an error by shortstop Ketel Marte with no outs in the second. The Astros made it 3-0 when Gonzalez sent one into the seats in right field for the first multi-run homer of his career. The first 25 homers in his five-year career were solo shots.
Houston starter Doug Fister (3-3) allowed three hits and three runs with two walks in 61/3 innings for his second straight win. Luke Gregerson pitched a scoreless ninth for his seventh save. Walker allowed two hits and three runs — one earned — in two innings before leaving the game with neck spasms.
Marte gave Seattle its only runs with a three-run triple in the seventh inning.
The Mariners had to piece together the rest of the game with three relievers after Walker’s early exit. Mayckol Guaipe ate up three innings, Mike Montgomery threw the next 1.2 innings and Steve Johnson finished the game.
Correa pushed the lead to 4-0 with a run-scoring single with one out in the fifth. Houston tacked on another run in that inning with a sacrifice fly by Colby Rasmus. Seattle centre-fielder Leonys Martin robbed Rasmus of a hit on that play when he sprinted to the base of Tal’s Hill and made an over-the-shoulder catch.
Seattle had managed just two singles entering the seventh inning before Fister plunked Nelson Cruz with one out in the seventh. Kyle Seager doubled and Adam Lind drew a walk to load the bases and chase Fister. He was replaced by Pat Neshek and Correa stretched out to grab a sharp liner hit by Chris Iannetta for the second out of the inning. Marte followed with his bases-clearing triple to close the gap to 5-3. The Astros added a run in the bottom of the inning when Rasmus grounded into a force out that scored Jose Altuve.
UP NEXT
Mariners: Nathan Karns (3-1, 3.81 ERA) will make his sixth start this
season on Saturday. He’s coming off his third straight win, a 4-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
Astros: Ace Dallas Keuchel (2-4, 5.11) looks to get back on track after three straight losses when he starts Saturday’s game.