HOUSTON (AP) — Kyle Seager, Mike Zunino and Jean Segura all homered off Dallas Keuchel early to back up another solid start by James Paxton and give the Seattle Mariners a 7-1 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
The Mariners have won five straight to move ahead of the defending champion Astros and into first place in the American League West.
Their bats got going early on Tuesday night, with Seager hitting a three-run homer in Seattle’s four-run first and Zunino padding the lead to 6-0 with his two-run shot in the second.
Paxton (5-1) gave up nine hits but just one run in 7 2/3 innings to extend his winning streak to five games. The Canadian lefty struck out six and walked one to lower his ERA to 2.95.
For the Astros the struggles continue for Keuchel (3-8), the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner. He tied a season-high by yielding seven hits and the seven runs were the most he’s allowed this season. It was the second time he’s given up three homers this season as he lost for the third time in four games.
Marwin Gonzalez was a home run shy of the cycle and drove in Houston’s only run with a second-inning double on a night the Astros had trouble stringing together hits and dropped their third straight.
Dee Gordon started things in the first with a leadoff single before a single by Jean Segura. Mitch Haniger grounded into a forceout that left Segura out at second and scored Gordon to make it 1-0. Nelson Cruz singled before Seager’s 10th homer this season made it 4-0.
Ben Gamel opened the second with a single and Zunino pushed the lead to 6-0 with his blast to left field.
Carlos Correa and Yuli Gurriel hit consecutive singles to start Houston’s second and the Astros cut it to 6-1 when Correa scored on a double by Gonzalez.
Gonzalez tripled with two outs in the fourth, but Max Stassi grounded out to leave him stranded.
Keuchel settled down after those tough two innings and had retired 10 straight when Segura connected off him with one out in the fifth to extend the lead to 7-1.
The Astros had a single in the sixth and seventh, but Paxton faced the minimum in both of those innings thanks to double plays.
Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve hit back-to-back singles with two outs in the eighth to give the Astros multiple hits in an inning for the first time since the second and chase Paxton. Juan Nicasio took over and needed just one pitch to get a groundout by Correa to end the inning.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: C Brian McCann, on the disabled list with right knee soreness, continues to ramp up his activity level and manager A.J. Hinch said they’ll likely decide what next for him on Wednesday. … OF Josh Reddick, who is recovering from an infection near his right knee, continued a rehabilitation assignment with Double-A Corpus Christi on Tuesday and Hinch said he could come of the DL as soon as Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Seattle’s Wade LeBlanc (1-0, 2.60 ERA) opposes Houston’s Lance McCullers (7-3, 3.89) when this two-game series wraps up on Wednesday night. LeBlanc has started and pitched in relief this season and has allowed just six earned runs combined in his six starts. McCullers picked up his seventh win in his last start by yielded four hits and two runs over six innings of a 4-2 win over Boston
