Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Robbie Ray (38) throws in the second inning of the game at T-Mobile Park on Sunday, July 24, 2022 in Seattle, Wash.
cboone@thenewstribune.com
SEATTLE
As Jose Altuve drove the first pitch of Sunday’s series finale at T-Mobile Park to the top left field deck—above both the “Edgar’s Cantina” sign and the manual scoreboard below—the eternal chorus of boos aimed at the All-Star second baseman had to be silent during his introduction.
Houston’s daily leadoff hitter was never afraid to swing on the first pitch and found a 93 mph sinker across the plate, courtesy of Seattle starter Robbie Ray. The field blasted off Altuve’s bat at 106 mph, landing some three rows in the stands, and Houston had jumped to an early lead, probably before many of the 34,827 in attendance had settled into their seats.
An at bat later, rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena launched Houston’s second explosion, marking back-to-back home runs to start Sunday’s game.
Of Ray’s first seven pitches, two were outfield-souvenirs.
And Kyle Tucker, another Astros All-Star, followed with a single in midfield for Houston’s third consecutive hit of the game.
“It was just one of those days when it wasn’t to my liking,” Ray told T-Mobile Park. “You never want to be swept by a team.
“We just have to look forward to the next one.”
Ray covered the damage with two runs in the first inning, but Houston rolled to an 8-5 win, putting the once red-hot Mariners into the team’s first run after the All-Star break two days after finishing. wiped out their 14-game winning streak.
“We are defeated,” said manager Scott Servais. “They performed, they made pitches, they made plays, they got timely hits. That’s why they swept the series.”
Houston scored five more hits before Ray was able to generate a single in the second inning, forcing Servais to make an earlier-than-expected call to the bullpen. Reliever Penn Murfee started with the warm-up and Ray, who had posted an 1.36 ERA with 11 walks and 58 over his previous seven starts, needed 49 pitches to get through his first few innings.
Before Ray faced Pena again in the second – his 11th batter of Sunday’s game – Houston had eight basehits. The reigning American League winner of the Cy Young Award went in to pitch the third inning, but immediately handed a line-drive, stand-up double to Yuli Gurriel to take the lead from the frame. Aledmys Diaz followed with a hard hitting single and Houston’s offense kept the figurative foot on the accelerator.
When Chas McCormick put Gurriel on the plate with a runscoring fielder’s choice in the third inning, Houston’s lead had risen to 6-0.
“They were on him,” Servais said of Ray, who hadn’t lasted three or fewer innings since 2019. “They were very, very aggressive.”
“It’s just baseball,” Ray added. “It happens.”
In the bottom of the second inning, Jesse Winker sustained a right ankle sprain after colliding with Houston’s Pena on the first baseline, and the Seattle left fielder left the game later in the fourth. Pena attacked Winker’s soft chopped grounder near second base and was unable to slow his momentum before Winker stepped on the shortstop’s foot and fell to the ground.
“It’s like rolling your ankle while playing basketball. It’s not that big of a deal,” Winker said after the game at the Seattle clubhouse. “We’ll see how it feels tomorrow. As long as it loosens up a bit tomorrow, I’m good to go.
“It would have been good if I hadn’t stepped on his foot, which is the unfortunate thing. It was an accident. No one is obviously trying to collide with that piece. Luckily both players are okay. He’s a well-built man. Never nice to meet someone like that.”
Astros starter Framber Valdez, also a 2022 All-Star, stunned for seven innings, silenced the Mariners offense for much of Sunday’s matinee and smoked eight in his first outing from the intermission. From the southpaw’s five-pitch arsenal, Valdez generated a game-high 16 swings-and-misses and dealt the minimum in both the third and fourth frames.
Murfee turned a perfect pair of frames in the fourth and fifth and struckout four of the six batters. Seattle’s Tommy Milone pitched a scoreless sixth inning and got the minimum in the seventh.
Dylan Moore singled in the fifth and Ty France singled in the sixth, but Seattle wouldn’t add up until Sam Haggerty rolled a triple with two outs to the wall of midfield in the seventh inning, bringing in a few runs .
Seattle was still trailing, 6-2, but a healthy crowd awoke from a six-inning nap to witness the comeback effort.
JP Crawford followed Haggerty’s triple by squeaking a double out of reach of first baseman Gurriel, scored one more run and narrowed the deficit to three. The rise in the late game put an end to Valdez’s start, but Seth Martinez came in and knocked out Ty France to end the rally.
Servais turned to reliever Matt Festa after Milone got the bases loaded with one out in the eighth, and Festa made a shallow flyout for the second out before Martin Maldonado threw a bloop single into left field and scored two runs.
Seattle’s deficit was five again — but not for long.
With Kyle Lewis leading first, Abraham Toro found a 2-1 fastball over the plate and crushed it into right field for a two-run home run in the eighth inning. When pinch-hitter Carlos Santana followed with a walk, Astros manager Dusty Baker Jr. turned to former Mariner Rafael Montero, who escaped with a strikeout by Haggerty.
Andres Munoz threw a perfect ninth frame, sniffing one, before Seattle’s attack calmly went to end the game.
‘We have to move forward,’ said Servais. “We need to flush these out as soon as possible.”
All-Star midfielder Julio Rodriguez missed his third straight game on Sunday with wrist pain after stalling on second base on a slide attempt last weekend in Texas. The 21-year-old was in pain after Monday’s Home Run Derby but “feeling better” on Sunday after an MRI Saturday.
“It’s nothing that we think will keep him out for a long time,” Servais said.
Servais is keeping his fingers crossed that the rookie could be available for Monday night’s series opener against the Rangers. It is possible that the Mariners can put Rodriguez on the injured list retroactively to Friday night, but that decision has yet to be made.
If he’s not put on the injured list, Rodriguez still won’t appear as a defensive replacement, as much as Servais would like to, jokingly saying: “I’ll stay disciplined and don’t go there.”
‘There is no question. You do want to be careful with it,” says Servais. “And you also have to listen to the player, trust the player. Even though (he) is young, nobody knows Julio’s body better than Julio.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2022 4:58 PM.
Tyler Wicke joined The News Tribune in 2019 as a sports clerk. Wicke, a 2021 graduate of the University of Washington Tacoma, covers the Mariners, prepares, and performs administrative duties. Was once a near-scratch golfer but now he’s just happy to break 80.
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