Altuve homers in 5th straight, Astros top Mariners
Jose Altuve homered for the fifth consecutive game, and Justin Verlander pitched six dominant innings as the Houston Astros defeated the host Seattle Mariners 3-1 Saturday night.
Robinson Chirinos also homered for Houston, which won its eighth consecutive game.
The Mariners lost their second in a row following a six-game winning streak. The two teams wrap up their three-game series Sunday afternoon.
Verlander (2-0) allowed one run -- a solo homer by Mitch Haniger -- on two hits. The right-hander didn't walk a batter and struck out 11. He threw 105 pitches, 76 for strikes.
Seattle's Felix Hernandez (1-1) took the loss despite a quality start. Hernandez allowed three runs on six hits in six innings, with one walk and five strikeouts.
Chirinos opened the scoring when he led off the third inning by hitting a 1-1 pitch from Hernandez over the wall in left-center field. With one out, George Springer was hit by a pitch, and Altuve reached on an infield single. An out later, Michael Brantley grounded a run-scoring single to center field to make it 2-0.
The Mariners got a run back in the fourth. With one out, Haniger hit an 0-1 pitch from Verlander out to center field. It was the 17th consecutive game to open the season in which Seattle homered, extending its major league record.
The Astros regained their-two run lead in the fifth on Altuve's one-out solo shot on a 3-2 pitch from Hernandez. It was the sixth homer in the past five games for Altuve.
The Astros' Will Harris, Ryan Pressly and Roberto Osuna combined for three scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out two. Osuna notched his sixth save in eight appearances.
It was only the third time in 17 games this season in which the Mariners failed to score six or more runs.
-- Field Level Media
