SEATTLE — Sunday wasn’t a must-win game for the Astros, but it was close. A three-game sweep at the hands of the Mariners would have seen their lead atop the American League West division dwindle to two games. Considering they had a seven-game lead 11 days ago, that would have been catastrophic.
Even after another starting position player — All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes — landed on the injured list Sunday morning with a hamstring strain, the remnants of the Astros rose from the ashes and pounded the Mariners, 11-3, at T-Mobile Park to salvage the finale of the series.
The Astros won for only the second time in the past nine games and will head to Arizona with a four-game lead over the second-place Mariners.
“For me, it’s more how we bounced back from last night [a 7-6 loss in 11 innings],” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “After a tough loss, like I’ve said all along, these guys are good at pressing that reset button and getting after it. Going back out here and having that performance, it was very important for our club.”
Astros outfielder Taylor Trammell, who stepped into a starting role with five members of Houston’s Opening Day lineup now on the injured list, went 3-for-4 with a homer and a two-run double and said he had some extra motivation against his former team.
“I have a lot of love for a lot of the guys over there,” he said. “A lot of love for this city, but there’s a little chip on my shoulder today. This whole week, I wanted to put together some good at-bats and just try to put it all together and today is a testament of baseball. It’s like some of the times [the hits are] going to fall and sometimes they’re not. It fell on that side of it today, but felt good overall.”
Trammell also teamed up with shortstop Mauricio Dubón in the seventh inning to nab Miles Mastrobuoni at the plate attempting to score from first base on a double by Julio Rodríguez. The run would have cut the Houston lead to one, but it was overturned after replay for the third out.
“That’s a huge play,” Espada said. “That inning could have gone completely different if that call wouldn’t have gotten overturned.”
Then there was reliever Kaleb Ort — the only reliever who didn’t pitch in Saturday’s nearly four-hour marathon — giving Houston 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, and Shay Whitcomb making a nice diving stop at second base to rob Cal Raleigh of a hit late in the game. Those are the under-the-radar contributions the Astros need until they get healthier.
“Anything that you can do to continue and help us win games, it matters in a long season like this,” Espada said. “Do something to have an impact on the game — on the bases, with the bat, with the defense, on the mound. Whatever it takes to help us win, it matters. This team is built that way. It’s a resilient group. Extremely proud of this group.”
Astros All-Star starter Hunter Brown needed 89 pitches to complete four innings in his shortest start of the season. A two-run single by Jorge Polanco in the third and an RBI single by Rodríguez in the fourth put the Mariners up 3-0. Brown has a 7.80 ERA in 15 innings in his last three starts.
“Kind of a tough-luck day,” he said. “They hit one ball well in the four innings that I was out there and it just so happened to drive in two runs. They got a couple of ground balls with some eyes and a couple of bloops. That’s baseball. That’s going to happen sometimes.”
Mariners starter Bryan Woo, who like Brown was a first-time All-Star this year, couldn’t hold a three-run lead. Rookie Cam Smith tied it in the fifth on a two-run double, and Christian Walker and Trammell homered in the sixth to make it 5-3, Houston scored four more in the seventh — keyed by Trammell’s two-run double to center field.
Victor Caratini (3-for-5) added a two-run double in the eighth to give Houston a rare blowout win.
“I think we feel like we should have played better the first two games, too, so a little bit of proving it to ourselves to get back on track,” Walker said. “Obviously, it’s nice to take game three and hit the road with a little momentum.”
