Astros 6 - 2 Mariners
Final
  for this game

Mariners seek third straight win

Jun 21, 2015 - 1:35 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Seattle Mariners shoot for their first three-game win streak in nearly a month as they close out a series with the visiting Houston Astros at Safeco Field on Sunday.

Seattle, which last won three in a row back on May 25-27 in a series sweep of Tampa Bay on the road, tripped up Houston at home Saturday by a score of 6-3. However, even with the victory the Mariners are still 7 1/2 games out of contention in the American League West and are the only club in the division with a negative run differential (minus-44).

Starting pitcher Taijuan Walker fanned a career-high 11 batters in 6 1/3 innings of action for the Mariners, allowing three runs on five hits along the way. Walker surrendered a pair of home runs, but did not walk a batter. Carson Smith stepped in during the eighth and retired the final four batters of the game for his fifth save.

"It was a necessity, Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said of using Smith for his first four-out save. "They put good at-bats on you over there. In my mind this was a big win for us and we needed to have it. It was just the way it was and he went out and got it done."

Of the seven hits registered by the Mariners, three left the park as Nelson Cruz delivered his 19th home run of the campaign, Seth Smith hit his sixth of 2015 and Mark Trumbo, who is hitting just .192, finally went deep with his first homer since joining the Mariners.

"That was an excellent game all the way around," said Trumbo. "They got off to a little bit of a lead and we came right back. If you want to be a good team, you've got to do that. And the way Tai threw the ball, that was pretty dominant."

Houston starter Dallas Keuchel was saddled with the loss, his third of the season. The hurler was touched for five runs on five hits and four walks in six innings of action.

Evan Gattis and Luis Valbuena both notched solo home runs for an Astros club that is 2 1/2 games ahead of Texas for first place in the AL West, but is now tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the best overall record in the league.

Colby Rasmus, who struck out three times, scored the other run for Houston as the team dealt with a total of 15 strikeouts, four of those coming from Chris Carter.

Heading to the mound for the Astros will be Vincent Velasquez this afternoon. The right-handed rookie is appearing in just his third major league contest and has yet to post a decision.

However, on Tuesday he did play a part in an 8-5 win over Colorado at home as he lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and a pair of walks, while striking out seven.

A more experienced J.A. Happ, who broke in with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2007, will take the ball for Seattle. The left-hander, who is still two games below .500 for his career at 54-56, has not registered a victory in more than a month, losing his last two outings and coming away with no decisions in the previous five.

On Tuesday the hurler surrendered three runs on seven hits and a couple of walks over six innings. Happ struck out five in the meeting.

For his career, Happ is 3-0 with a 3.48 ERA in five starts against the Astros.






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