RED-HOT ASTROS SWEEP M’S, WIN 9TH STRAIGHT
Brantley delivers tying single in 6th before Diaz crushes home run in 7th
SEATTLE — On the final offering of his commanding afternoon, Gerrit Cole painted the outside corner with 98.1 mph. The pitcher departed the mound before plate umpire Todd Tichenor told the crowd of 29,237 it was strike three.
Daniel Vogelbach left the batter’s box in disgust, taking umbrage with Tichenor’s traveling strike zone. Ten Mariners before him struck out, scuttling any hope two early runs off Cole harbored. The sixthinning strikeout of Vogelbach kept the game tied.
“We don’t carry our poor offense over to our defense. We don’t sulk throughout the game. We continue to fight,” Cole said. “And as a pitching staff, we’re going to get nicked — that’s going to happen. If we just contin
ue to hold and keep it within reach, we’re two or three swings away from igniting this offense.”
After managing three baserunners across five innings, the Astros struck six hits and scored thrice in the final four innings, completing a three-game sweep of the AL West-leading Mariners with a 3-2 win. The comeback gave Cole his first victory in four starts this season and extended his team’s winning streak to nine games.
“We’re playing each inning in and of itself. We’ve been able to take punches just as well as we’ve been able to deliver some,” Cole said. “You’re never out of the game, especially with the talent we have.”
Aledmys Diaz destroyed the first pitch of the seventh inning for a home run, finishing the late uprising that embodies what the Astros’ offense, at its most lethal, can be.
Before Diaz’s demolition, Houston’s rally was devoid of power, missing the theatrics upon which the Astros have thrived during their winning streak.
Jose Altuve’s home run streak stopped. The game-shifting sixth inning contained four singles. Resuscitating a listless offense was not a one-swing situation.
The Astros are not reliant on the home run ball, however absurd Altuve’s last week makes that statement sound. A.J. Hinch only requests productive at-bats throughout his order, in hopes an opposing pitcher senses pressure. Mariners starter Marco Gonzales did not, requiring 52 pitches to breeze across five one-hit innings.
“We put up better at-bats as the game went on. He didn’t make many mistakes,” Hinch said. “I’m not even sure the pitches he gave up (hits on) were mistakes, but we were able to capitalize on the small opportunities we had.”
Gonzales moved an array of cutters and sinkers to each side of the strike zone, complementing both with a changeup on which he received six called strikes.
On Gonzales’ third pitch of the sixth, nine-hole hitter Tony Kemp reached out and spanked a tailing cutter to center field. Only once in the previous five frames had Houston put a leadoff man aboard. George Springer struck out, swinging too early at a twostrike cutter. Altuve and Alex Bregman loomed.
“We kind of just keep rolling off hits and keep battling,” Kemp said. “This team is special, and we say it every day that it’s one of those teams that don’t give up. It’s cliché, but we’re always in the game.”
For the first time in six games, Altuve did not bomb a baseball over the fence. Here, the streaking second baseman did scorch a two-strike slider through the six hole for a single.
Jammed on a two-strike sinker, Bregman managed an excuse-me swing. The fly ball carried the game’s softest exit velocity. It found grass in shallow left field, filling the bases.
“Hitting is contagious, and especially with this team, we feed off each other,” Kemp said. “When a guy gets a hit in front of you, you want to do the same thing.”
Gonzales wore down while his haphazard bullpen warmed up. Michael Brantley arrived, already armed with a second-inning single against Gonzales. The cleanup hitter did not offer at the first curveball Gonzales offered..
The second hung in the middle of the strike zone. Brantley belted it to right field for a game-tying single, completing a five-batter carousel.
“Timely hitting and relying on one another as a team — this is a team effort all the way around,” Brantley said. “We did a good job putting pressure on them that inning and capitalizing.”
Before the two-run sixth, Cole had received four runs of support in his first 25 innings of the season. He spun a superb six innings on Sunday, striking out 11 Mariners. After the third inning, Seattle did not advance a man to scoring position against Cole or the three relievers who followed.
Cole’s mistakes were few. Leadoff hitter Mitch Haniger crushed an elevated curveball for a first-inning home run. Haniger and Domingo Santana sent consecutive two-out changeups for third-inning doubles, adding a second run to Cole’s line.
Cole was otherwise in complete command. Nineteen of his 103 pitches were swung upon and missed. His four-seam fastball averaged 96 mph, and he consistently landed his curveball for called strikes. Eight of his 11 strikeouts concluded on a four-seam fastball.
“He executed very, very well,” Hinch said. “I thought he did a really good job of getting into his outing and keeping it where it was until we scored.”
Diaz delivered the fatal blow to start the seventh. The occasionally used utility man made his first start in four days, drawing designated hitter duties for the first time. Despite not playing every day, Diaz takes pride in always treating his pregame routine or advance scouting as if he were starting.
Diaz knew Mariners reliever Brandon Brennan — a recent Rule 5 pick with 102⁄3 major league innings — brought a plus changeup. There was a plan from the first pitch.
“Hopefully he would throw me a sinker in, which is what he did,” Diaz said. “I tried to be aggressive.”
Diaz demolished it. The baseball jumped off his bat at 109.9 mph and instantly cleared the left field wall for the game-winning hit.
“No matter who we insert in that lineup,” Kemp said, “it’s going to be productive.”