SEATTLE _ Poised to win a series from the team sitting directly ahead of them in the American League West standings and perhaps pick up some momentum following the All-Star break, the Mariners went out on Sunday and fell flat.
Seattle delivered a sloppy, error-filled, strikeout-riddled, runner-stranded performance in an 8-1 drubbing by the Astros in front of a crowd of 27,322 mostly unimpressed fans.
Seattle fell to 46-46, while the Astros improved to 50-42. The Mariners are now 5-8 against the Astros this season, including 2-7 in their last nine games.
Where to begin?
Well, there was the defense. The Mariners committed four errors in the game _ two by Kyle Seager _ that led to an unearned run in the first inning and also plenty of extra pitches for starter Mike Montgomery.
Seager's first error did lead directly to a run. In the first inning, Marwin Gonzalez attempted a steal of third. Catcher Jesus Sucre delivered a solid throw that would've gotten Gonzalez with ease, but Seager missed the ball and it went into the outfield, allowing Gonzalez to trot home.
Offensively, the Mariners had seven hits, struck out 12 times, hit into five double plays and still stranded 10 baserunners. But even worse were the squandered opportunities with runners in scoring position that could've possibly overcome those mistakes early in the game.
Twice, Seattle had the bases loaded with less than two outs. Twice they stranded all three runners without scoring a run.
In the bottom of the first, Seattle loaded the bases against Astros starter Collin McHugh with back-to-back walks by Leonys Martin and Robinson Cano and a curveball off the knee of Nelson Cruz.
For a fleeting moment _ the time it took for the ball to exit Kyle Seager's bat and rocket toward the right field foul pole _ the Mariners appeared to have a 4-1 lead. But Seager's potential grand slam drifted just foul. McHugh struck him out and Dae-Ho Lee grounded out to end the inning.
That pattern re-emerged in the third inning. Seattle again loaded the bases, this time with no outs. But McHugh struck out Seager again, using an assortment of curveballs, while Lee ended the inning by hitting into a 4-6-3 double play.
Though he got minimal help from his defense, Montgomery wasn't particularly sharp. He pitched five innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits with two walks, seven strikeouts, a wild pitch and a homer allowed. Of his five innings pitched, Montgomery allowed the leadoff runner to reach four times _ a first-inning walk, and leadoff doubles by Luis Valbuena in the second and two from Marwin Gonzales in the third and fifth innings.
In the third inning, Gonzalez's leadoff double was followed by a two-run homer from All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve _ a Mariners' nemesis _ to make it 3-0. Montgomery fell behind 3-0 in the count and grooved a fastball to Altuve, who had the green light and hammered the ball into the Mariners' bullpen.
In the fifth inning, Gonzalez led off with a double to right-center. Martin's throw in from the outfield went to no one in particular. The error on the throw allowed Gonzalez to hustle to third and later score on Altuve's single to left field.
The Mariners mustered little against McHugh, who wasn't particularly sharp at times, but managed to be effective. The right-hander worked six scoreless innings, allowing four his with four walks, a hit batter and 10 strikeouts.
Any hope of a rally ended in Nathan Karns' one inning of work in the seventh. Karns loaded the bases with one out for Carlos Gomez. He angered Gomez, who had already been miffed about being hit by a pitch earlier in the game, by throwing a fastball up and in. Gomez stared at Karns and muttered a few things. On the next pitch, he yanked a line drive over the wall in left field for a grand slam and an 8-0 lead. Gomez admired his work for a second to let Karns know what he'd done before rounding the bases.
Seattle's lone run came in the eighth inning. After striking out in his first three at-bats and even hearing a few boos from the crowd on the third, Seager punched a single into right field off of reliever Chris Devenski to score Seth Smith.
