HOUSTON _ They weren't strikes. They weren't even particularly good pitches for a hitter to swing at in search of success.
And yet they all resulted in hits that hurt the Mariners and helped the Astros ignite a four-run seventh inning that extinguished any of Seattle's hopes of a sweep of the two-game series as Houston posted a 7-5 victory Wednesday.
Reliever Juan Nicasio was on the receiving end of the bad luck that this team has been able to avoid in recent weeks.
Brought in to protect a 4-3 lead in the seventh, Nicasio gave up a leadoff single to Tony Kemp and it only got worse.
A slider low and away from the plate to George Springer on a 1-2 count resulted in a blooped double off the end of the bat into right field. With runners on the corners, Nicasio got up 1-2 on Alex Bregman and again fired a slider outside of the strike zone. Bregman lunged at the pitch and poked a soft ground ball up the middle that got by Nicasio and went for an infield single that tied the game.
Jose Altuve ended Nicasio's night, jumping on a first-pitch fastball that was well below the strike zone and dumping into left for the go-ahead run-scoring single.
Nicasio came into the game having retired 26 of the past 29 batters he faced with 16 strikeouts.
On this night, he retired no one and was replaced by Dan Altavilla, who allowed two more runs to score.
The defeat snapped the Mariners' five-game winning streak. They fell to 38-23 and are 2-4 against the defending World Series champs.
The surprising and magical run of quality starts from Wade LeBlanc ended against the Astros. It wasn't a bashing or a beating, but it might have been had he tried to navigate through the order one more time.
Instead, he was pulled from the game after a rough fourth inning when he turned a 1-0 lead into a 3-1 deficit. He left a 3-2 fastball to the lumberjack that is Evan Gattis down the middle of the plate, which was a costly mistake. It resulted in a two-run homer off the glass windows above the train tracks for the retractable roof. LeBlanc later allowed a run-scoring double to Springer that made it 3-1.
Down two runs and with a rested bullpen, there was no reason to push LeBlanc further in the game. Manager Scott Servais went to his bullpen in hopes of keeping the deficit workable and maybe scratch out the necessary runs against Lance McCullers or the Astros bullpen.
They did both.
After homering in the fourth inning off McCullers for Seattle's first run, Nelson Cruz drove in the second run with a run-scoring single through the left side of the infield to cut the lead to 3-2 in the sixth inning.
Denard Span tied the game to start the seventh, ambushing the first pitch he saw from McCullers over the wall in right field for a solo homer that tied the game at .
The Mariners took a brief lead later in the inning when Jean Segura laced a run-scoring single off the glove of reliever Chris Devenski into center field to score Guillermo Heredia.
