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 This year has been a different story, and Wednesday was one of the
few nights when the Astros looked worthy of their sky-high
expectations.
"I think this win is going to create momentum and we're going to
go," second baseman Jose Altuve said after going 3-for-5 with a solo
home run in the Astros' 7-4 win over Seattle on Wednesday night.
"Everything will be back to normal and we'll win a lot of games."
After struggling through most of April, the Astros (7-15) finally
put it together on Wednesday.
Altuve had three hits, two RBIs and three runs as Houston snapped a
three-game losing streak and got back on the winning track.
"Nothing's coming easy right now," starting pitcher Collin McHugh
said. "It's been a battle since the get-go."
Altuve led off the game with a home run as the Astros avoided the
series sweep behind nine hits and a workmanlike performance from
McHugh.
McHugh (2-3) allowed two runs on five hits over five innings.
 "I don't know if I've ever been as proud of a five-inning start as I
was tonight," McHugh said.
Robinson Cano and Adam Lind each hit a solo home run for the
Mariners (11-10). Seattle had 10 hits but stranded nine runners on
base.
"Our offense battled," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "We hung
in there, and (the offense) gave us a chance."
Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma (0-3) allowed five runs on seven
hits over five innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
"He hung in there, he really did," Servais said. "He just wasn't
that sharp."
Altuve scored three of Houston's first five runs as the Astros
pulled out to a 5-1 lead through five innings. After Lind's first
home run of the season cut the deficit to 5-3 in the sixth, Evan
Gattis delivered a two-run double to put the Astros ahead 7-3 in the
seventh.
Houston snapped a three-game losing streak with the win. The Astros
have won just one of their first seven series this season.
Altuve has reached base safely in 19 consecutive games. George
Springer added two hits, while Gattis drove in three runs for
Houston.
"We've got a good team, obviously," Altuve said, "and we showed that
today."
Cano went 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Seattle shortstop Ketel Marte,
batting leadoff for the second time this season while Nori Aoki got
the night off, went 3-for-5.
The Astros lost center fielder Carlos Gomez to a hand injury in the
top of the fourth inning. Gomez took an Iwakuma pitch off his right
hand and was replaced by Preston Tucker.
X-rays taken on Gomez's hand were negative, and he was being listed
as day-to-day with a hand contusion.
Altuve drove in runs in each of his first two at-bats, beginning
with a leadoff homer in the first, as the Astros jumped out to a 3-1
lead through the first three innings.
Altuve led off a game with a home run for the third time this season
when he drilled a 2-0 pitch from Iwakuma over the left-field fence.
Seattle didn't take long to tie the score, doing so on a Robinson
Cano solo homer in the bottom of the first. Cano's shot to right
field gave him eight on the season, the most home runs he has hit in
April since the 2011 season.
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Houston scored two runs on four hits in the top of the third inning.
Back-to-back doubles by Jason Castro and Altuve gave the Astros a
lead, and shortstop Carlos Correa singled in Altuve to make it 3-1.
After Seattle pulled to within 3-2 on a Cano RBI single in the
bottom of the third, the Astros tacked on two more runs in the fifth
to open up a 5-2 lead. Altuve collected his third hit of the night,
a double, and eventually scored his third run of the game on a
sacrifice fly from Evan Gattis. Colby Rasmus' RBI single with the
bases loaded accounted for the other run in the fifth.
Seattle nearly cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the fifth,
when Seth Smith hit a long fly ball toward the right-field foul pole
with a runner on first base. Smith's towering shot landed in the
stands and was ruled foul but was close enough to bring Mariners
manager Scott Servais out of the dugout for a replay challenge.
Replays showed that the ball went outside the foul pole, so the call
stood. Three pitches later, Smith grounded out to end the fifth.
"I thought we had a good series," said Servais, whose team has now
won four consecutive series after opening the season with a 3-6
record. "We continued to grind out at-bats. We just didn't hold it
down tonight."
Before Wednesday's game, the Mariners announced a significant
transition in ownership. Longtime CEO Howard Lincoln, whose name has
become synonymous with Seattle's decade-plus of futility, will
retire from day-to-day operations as a group known as First Avenue
Entertainment LLP takes majority ownership from Nintendo of America.
John Stanton, a member of the minority ownership since 2000, will
take over as CEO.
NOTES: Houston adjusted its rotation for the weekend series in
Oakland, with RHP Scott Feldman being skipped over in favor of RHP
Chris Devenski on Saturday. As a long reliever, Devenski has a 0.66
ERA in six appearances. Feldman (0-2, 4.58 ERA) will work out of the
bullpen this weekend, but manager A.J. Hinch left the door open for
Feldman to return to the rotation soon. ... Seattle shook up its
batting order for the game, giving leadoff hitter Nori Aoki the
night off while dropping CF Leonys Martin to the No. 9 spot. SS
Ketel Marte hit leadoff for just the second time this season. Seth
Smith, batting second, stepped in for Aoki in left field. ... Both
teams have Thursday off. Seattle will host a three-game series
against the Kansas City Royals beginning Friday night. The Astros
travel to Oakland, where A's LHP Sean Manaea, the franchise's top
prospect, will make his major league debut Friday against Houston
RHP Mike Fiers.
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