Julio Rodriguez drove in two runs, including the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Seattle Mariners a 4-2 victory against the visiting Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
The American League West-leading Mariners won their third in a row.
Alex Bregman homered for Houston, which has lost the first two games of the four-game series.
Seattle reliever Tayler Saucedo (2-0) got the victory and Ryne Stanek pitched the ninth for his third save of the season.
Houston’s Ryan Pressly (0-2) took the loss.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Mariners rallied. Mitch Haniger greeted Pressly with a leadoff double to left field. A passed ball allowed pinch runner Jonatan Clase to take third and Ryan Bliss, after fouling off a couple of bunt attempts, drew a walk. An out later, Josh Rojas lined a one-hopper off the glove of diving first baseman Jose Abreu to tie the score.
Rodriguez then hit a chopper down the third-base line. Bregman realized he couldn’t throw out Bliss at the plate, and his throw to first base was in the dirt and skipped past Abreu, allowing Rojas to also score on the play.
The Mariners scored in the bottom of the first inning as Rojas grounded a one-out single to right field, stole second and scored on Rodriguez’s single to right.
The Astros took the lead in the fourth after Yordan Alvarez hit a leadoff single to center. Jeremy Pena grounded into a fielder’s choice before Bregman went deep to left on a 2-2 slider.
Right-handers Hunter Brown of Houston and Luis Castillo of Seattle both had quality starts.
Brown allowed one run on four hits in six innings, with no walks and a season-high nine strikeouts.
Castillo gave up two runs on five hits over six innings. He walked one and fanned six.
–Field Level Media
