Astros 5 - 2 Mariners
Final
  for this game

Altuve, Astros down Mariners

Sep 11, 2014 - 5:33 AM Seattle, WA (SportsNetwork.com) - Jose Altuve recorded his 200th hit of the season and the Houston Astros defeated the Seattle Mariners, 5-2, in the rubber match of a three-game set.

Altuve went 2-for-5 with an RBI and also stole his AL-leading 52nd base for Houston, which has won eight of its last 10 games. Alex Presley posted two hits, an RBI and a run scored in the triumph.

"I think we're playing hard, we're playing as a team," said Altuve. "When you do that, you're going to win a lot of games."

Nick Tropeano (1-0) allowed two runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts over five-plus frames in his MLB debut to notch the win.

Hisashi Iwakuma (14-7) surrendered four runs on six hits and two walks with six punchouts over 4 1/3 frames for the Mariners, who have dropped three of four on the heels of a five-game winning streak.

"Iwakuma had a bad outing, our hitters had a bad outing, our defense had a bad outing," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "It was a tough disappointing loss."

Seattle, though, remains a half-game behind of Detroit for the AL's second Wild Card spot after the Tigers were blanked by Kansas City earlier Wednesday.

The Astros opened the scoring with three runs in the second.

Jon Singleton worked a one-out walk and after Matt Dominguez popped out, Presley singled to put runners on first and second. Max Stassi then ripped a single into left-center to plate Singleton as well as Presley from first. Jonathan Villar's double brought home Stassi to give Houston a 3-0 lead.

Seattle got a pair of runs back in the bottom of the second.

Kyle Seager worked a leadoff walk and Brad Miller reached with an infield single to shortstop, with both runners moving up a base on Villar's throwing error on the play. Mike Zunino then whacked a double into the gap in left- center to bring home both runners, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

Houston pushed across a run in the fifth and another in the eighth for some insurance.

Robbie Grossman hit a one-out single in the fifth and Altuve followed with a stinging double to left for a 4-2 lead.

Chris Carter singled to begin the eighth and stole second after Singleton struck out and Dominguez lined out. Presley then rolled a base hit through the left side of the infield to plate Carter and give the Astros a 5-2 advantage.

Game Notes

Houston went 6-4 against Seattle this season in Safeco Field ... Altuve is 10 hits away from Craig Biggio's single-season hits record for Houston ... The M's grounded into three double plays ... The Astros were 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position, while Seattle finished 1-for-3.






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