Garcia falls short in duel
Trammell’s solo HR enough as Kikuchi flirts with no-hitter, Seattle avoids 4-game sweep
The Mariners had been hitting home runs all week at Minute Maid Park, and it turned out they needed only one Thursday to spoil the Astros’ designs on a series sweep and a solid outing by starter Luis Garcia.
Carlos Correa broke up Yusei Kikuchi’s no-hit bid with a oneout double in the seventh inning, but the Astros left him stranded and produced just one more hit the rest of the afternoon in a 1-0 loss.
The Astros entered the game with MLB’s second-best run differential (plus-25). They struck out eight times while mustering two hits and two walks and managed to get runners in scoring position only twice. They had only five hard-hit balls all game.
“I’m just glad that we didn’t get no-hit, to tell you the truth,” manager Dusty Baker said. “That’s a
pretty helpless feeling, especially when the pitcher’s in the windup the whole game. It’s to his advantage. He’s throwing haymakers. He’s only in the stretch a couple times. And, like I said, I mean, he threw a heck of a game.”
Baker’s lineup lacked its usual punch. Designated hitter Yordan Alvarez missed his second straight game in health and safety protocols, while Baker gave Michael Brantley and alreadyslumping Kyle Tucker the day off to overload the lineup with righthanded batters against the lefty Kikuchi.
Taylor Trammell produced Seattle’s lone run of the game in the third inning with a leadoff home run off a 1-2 fastball from Garcia. The ball shot to right-center field and glanced off Chas McCormick’s glove into the stands.
“I didn’t thought it was a homer, but it was going and going, and when McCormick jumped, he almost catch it,” Garcia said. “I was (like), ‘Oh.’ Well, that happens.”
Making his third start of the season, Garcia yielded three hits and one run over five innings with six strikeouts. The home run was the only major blemish on his résumé, but it was enough to leave a lasting mark as Astros hitters failed to cobble together any meaningful momentum.
“Everybody says good pitching beats good hitting, and then when you don’t hit, everybody wants to know what was wrong,” Baker said. “So, you know, today we just got beat by a pretty good pitcher. Very good pitcher.”
Kikuchi had a near-spotless afternoon, striking out seven batters and giving up one hit and two walks in 95 pitches over seven innings. He puzzled the Astros with his cutter, logging 21 called strikes and whiffs on the pitch.
“He was dotting the outside part of the plate with the sinker, and then his breaking ball on the cutter — he had it going on both sides of the plate,” Baker said.
“And you could tell by some swings that our hitters had that he was on today.”
The Mariners’ defense backed Kikuchi with unflappable fielding to keep Astros off the basepaths, including a double play in the first inning. Ty France made a sliding catch in left field to deny Myles Straw a two-out hit in the eighth.
Astros reliever Bryan Abreu took over for Garcia and worked two scoreless innings. Brooks Raley and Joe Smith did their part with 1-2-3 innings in the eighth and ninth, giving the home team one final opportunity for a rally.
Tucker stepped in to pinch-hit for Jason Castro but struck out to lead off the ninth, and Jose Altuve grounded out. Alex Bregman planted a seed of hope with a twoout single to left field. Correa hammered a high fly ball to center field. Four Mariners outfielders converged, and Trammell made a sliding catch to cement the win and deny the Astros their second comeback in as many days.