SEATTLE — Perhaps the Seattle Mariners should just go into games down a few runs so their offense can get cranking earlier.
For the fifth time, they found themselves trailing in a game and found a way to rally for a win.
Ty France’s walk-off ground-rule double to deep right-center off Astros closer Ryan Pressly completed another comeback to give the Mariners a 6-5 win.
In front of a “sold-out” crowd that was intent on booing Houston players without mercy, and facing an Astros lineup missing several key players, the Mariners opened the homestand with a win.
Yusei Kikuchi cruised through the first four innings, allowing just one base runner — a leadoff walk to Yuli Gurriel to start the second inning. He was quickly erased with a double play. The Astros’ plan was to swing early and try to take advantage of Kikuchi’s aggressiveness in trying to get early strikes. He threw first-pitch strikes to nine of the first 13 hitters he faced with six of them being swings and misses or balls put in play.
But his brief no-hitter bid ended after striking out Gurriel in the fifth. With one out, Carlos Correa singled to left field. It would not be the only hit allowed by Kikuchi that inning.
He walked Kentwood-grad Taylor Jones and gave up an RBI single to Alex De Goti, who looked overwhelmed in striking out on three pitches in his first plate appearance. The line drive was fielded by Dylan Moore. With no play at home, he fired awkwardly to third base. Kyle Seager had no chance of catching it. Jones scampered home to make it 2-0. A double to the gap from Chas McCormick made it 3-0.
Seattle as it has been known to do, found its offense after falling behind.
Starter Jose Urquidy held the Mariners scoreless for the first five innings, allowing just two base runners. But in the sixth inning, Mitch Haniger led off with his second hit of the game, France doubled off the top of the fence in deep left center and both scored on Seager’s double into the right-field corner to cut the lead to 3-2. That tying run of the inning didn’t score as Seager watched from second base as Urquidy struck out Jose Marmolejos and Evan White and lefty reliever Brooks Raley struck out Taylor Trammell to end the rally.
With his pitch count so low thanks to the Astros swing-early, swing-often approach, Kikuchi worked into the seventh thanks to a scoreless sixth. But he again found trouble as he gave up back-to-back singles to start the inning and issued a one-out walk to load the bases. After striking out Myles Straw, Kikuchi remained in the game to face the right-handed hitting Aledmys Diaz, who doesn’t hit left-handed pitching as well as right-handed pitching. But he did this time, dumping a single into left field to score two runs to make it 5-2.
The Mariners trimmed the lead to one run by answering in the bottom of the inning. With runners on first and third and one out, Haniger notched his third hit of the night, an RBI single into right field. France would follow with a sac fly to cut it to 5-4.
White tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with his first homer of the season. Facing lefty Blake Taylor, White sat on a 2-1 curveball and sent a laser of a line drive over the wall in left field that had 111 mph exit velocity.
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