Raley hits three-run homer to help Mariners overcome injury to Rodriguez and beat Astros 6-4
Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — Luke Raley hit a three-run homer, Bryan Woo pitched 5 2/3 solid innings and the Seattle Mariners overcame an injury to Julio Rodríguez to beat the Houston Astros 6-4 on Sunday.
Rodríguez left the game with two outs in the sixth inning after he leapt for a flyball and appeared to twist his right ankle against the pad of the center field fence on a triple by Yordan Alvarez, who hit for the cycle.
Rodriguez grabbed at his ankle in pain and stayed on the ground for several minutes before walking off the field with manager Scott Servais and trainer Taylor Bennett. Servais said initial X-rays were negative.
“He’s got a little bit of an ankle sprain there,” Servais said. “Right now what I’ve been told is it’s going to be day-to-day. We’ll see where it’s at there.”
Servais added that Rodríguez would likely get an MRI.
“We’ll take all precautions there and make sure he’s 100% before he gets back out there,” Servais said.
The hit against Taylor Saucedo was the third of the game for Alvarez, who also had a first-inning single and a fourth-inning homer against Woo. Alvarez completed the cycle with a double in the eighth against Mariners reliever Gregory Santos.
“I’m very excited,” Alvarez said. “I felt a little bit of pressure there, but I knew I needed a double and when I hit the ball, I said, ‘there it is.'”
It was the first cycle of Alvarez’s career and the 10th in Astros history.
“That’s not easy to do, especially for a slugger,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “It tells you how athletic he is. Able to hit, that looked like 500 feet on that homer, and then able to triple, just tells you not only how good of a hitter he is, but how athletic he is.”
Woo (4-1) retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced, and allowed only two hits over his first five innings. Woo ended his day with four hits and two earned runs allowed, with no walks and five strikeouts.
“I think I just did a better job of controlling what I could control,” Woo said. “Getting back to a very simple, basic approach going into games, and not trying to complicate things.”
Dylan Moore put the Mariners ahead in the second inning with a two-run triple off Astros starter Ronel Blanco (9-5). After Alvarez made it a one-run game with his 429-foot blast in the fourth, Jorge Polanco hit a solo homer for Seattle in the bottom half of the inning to make it 3-1.
The Astros scored again when Alvarez drove in Mauricio Dubón on his sixth-inning triple, but Raley clubbed his three-run shot in the bottom half to give Seattle a four-run lead.
Jeremy Peña hit a solo homer for the Astros in the seventh and Chas McCormick hit an RBI single in the eighth.
Andrés Muñoz pitched the ninth for his 16th save.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak and put the Mariners into a tie with Houston for the AL West Division lead.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: RHPs Justin Verlander (neck discomfort) and Luis Garcia (Tommy John surgery) both felt good after throwing bullpens on Saturday, and Espada said the plan is for both to throw again sometime in the next couple of days.
ROSTER MOVE
The Mariners traded RHP Mike Baumann to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday for cash considerations.
UP NEXT
Astros: RHP Spencer Arrighetti (4-7, 5.63 ERA) will pitch Monday in Houston’s series opener at Oakland.
Mariners: RHP Bryce Miller (7-7, 3.63 ERA) will start Monday against Angels lefty Tyler Anderson. Miller has a 4.46 ERA in his past seven starts, with 10 walks and 27 strikeouts.
