HOUSTON — A series win over the Astros at Minute Maid Park? Those just don’t happen for the Mariners, particularly not this season.
It’s an accomplishment to be certain any time during the season. But in the final week for a team still holding on to hope for a spot in the postseason, this series win was a must.
While the 12-4 trouncing of the Astros on Wednesday afternoon was necessary to stay on pace for an American League wild-card spot or force a play-in game to get one, there is still the sting of blown opportunity less than 24 earlier that isn’t easily erased. A series win was big, but a series sweep could have been season defining.
But to win Wednesday, the players needed to the flush the “what might have been” and the frustrations and failures from their system. Mariners manager Scott Servais addressed the team after Tuesday’s 8-4 loss and implored them to not to change anything they’d done all season just because of what happened. They didn’t and they won.
“Really, really happy for our guys,” Servais said. “Last night’s game one that was really tough to swallow. We kind of let it slip away. I think the guys left here in a pretty good state of mind based on what happened and they showed up ready to play.”
They’ll go back to Seattle with an 84-74 record and face the A’s in a four-game series with no margin for error or loss. They also need the Orioles and Tigers to lose games.
Before the game, there were no signs of sulking about the night before. The clubhouse was midseason boisterous and energetic. It carried over into the game, boosted significantly by Robinson Cano’s three-run homer — his 36th of the season — in the first inning off Astros starter Doug Fister.
“Everybody knows what’s at stake and where we are at, but at the same time we’ve been playing really well when we’ve been loose,” said Kyle Seager. “That was huge just to get some runs on the board right there. It was loose before, but that really loosened everybody up and put us in a good place.”
The Mariners were in a better place with a 7-0 lead in the top of third. But they were also playing in a place where no lead is safe and against a team that has provided plenty of late-inning nightmares for them this season.
Houston chipped away at the lead, picking up a run off Seattle starter James Paxton in the third inning and two more in the fifth inning to trim the lead to 7-3.
“Facing this team, you are never safe,” Cano said. “Any of them can change the game with a swing. You don’t want to take your chances with them late in the game.”
Servais took no chances with his starting pitcher. With Paxton’s pitch count at 91 after getting out of the fifth inning, he went to the bullpen.
Nick Vincent started the sixth inning for Seattle and never registered an out. His first pitch of the frame was deposited in the left-field seats by Evan Gattis to cut the lead to 7-4. The next two batters Vincent faced each registered hits, bringing the tying run to the late with no outs. That was enough to end his outing.
“Vincent just didn’t have it today,” Servais said. “He’s been awesome about the last 10 to11 times out, but you have those days where it just didn’t look good.”
Servais called on Evan Scribner. The veteran right-hander stopped any sort of a rally, striking out the first two hitters he faced and getting to George Springer to ground out to end the inning.
Scribner, who missed much of the season with a lat tear, has been stellar for Seattle. He hasn’t allowed a run in 10 appearances and 12 1/3 innings pitched.
The Mariners’ offense reappeared after a three-inning hiatus in the seventh inning, scoring two runs.
With Nelson Cruz on second, Leonys Martin singled to left field and third base coach Manny Acta took advantage of Tony Kemp’s weak arm in left field, sending Cruz home to make it 8-4. Martin put himself into scoring position with a steal of second and scored on Mike Zunino’s ground rule double to right to make it 9-4.
The Mariners turned it into a rout in the eighth inning when Kyle Seager crushed his 30th homer of the season. The three-run shot off Pat Neshek into right field gave the Mariners a lead that not even the Astros could rally from. It also gave Seager 99 RBIs on the season.
