HOUSTON _ Perhaps those Crawford Boxes aren't such a bad thing.
For years, that section of seats that shortens the left field in Minute Maid Park into haven for cheaply hit home runs has been a place where Mariners' victory hopes go to die.
Seemingly every game, a high fly ball that would be caught back home at Safeco Field, carries over the wall in left for a homer.
It's left many a Mariners pitcher grumbling about the actual fairness of the park.
But on Tuesday, well, the Mariners, specifically Kyle Seager, took full advantage of the Crawford Boxes. Seager hit a three-run homer that snuck over the 19-foot wall in the first inning to set the tone in a relatively easy 7-1 win over the Astros.
The Mariners improved to 38-22 with their fifth straight win and pushed their lead in the American League West to two games. They've won 14 of their last 17 games.
Seattle had already pieced together a run in the first inning off Astros starter Dallas Keuchel before Seager stepped to the plate. Dee Gordon reached on an infield single and advanced to second on Jose Altuve's throwing error on the play. He later scored when Mitch Haniger pushed his team lead in RBIs to 43 with a fielder's choice.
Following a Nelson Cruz infield single, Seager stayed on a fastball on the outside plate sending a fly ball to left that had an exit velocity of 95 mph and a launch angle of 29 degrees. By MLB statcast measures, that exit velocity and launch angle on similar balls in play produces a hit just 9 percent of the time. Still, it was Seager's 10th homer of the season and the three-run shot meant a 4-0 lead before the Astros even had an at-bat.
But the Mariners didn't rely on ballpark quirks for their two other homers off Keuchel, who gave up seven runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings pitched.
An inning later, Keuchel gave up a leadoff single to Ben Gamel and then made the regrettable mistake of leaving a slider over the plate to Mike Zunino.
The freakishly strong Zunino yanked the give pitch to left. The only question is whether the ball would stay foul and where it would hit high above the Crawford Boxes. The ball did stay fair by more than a few feet and smacked off the glass above the train tracks that are used to open the retractable roof. The ridiculous blast left the bat with an exit speed of 110 mph and traveled 429 feet per statcast.
Seattle's other run came in the fifth inning when Jean Segura joined the homer parade, launching a solo blast off the signage above the Crawford Boxes.
Seven runs was more than enough for Seattle ace James Paxton, who delivered a solid, if not dominant performance.
Paxton tossed 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run on nine hits with a walk and six strikeouts to improve to 5-1. He didn't have pinpoint command or his plus breaking ball, but he pitched into the eighth, aided by inning-ending double plays in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
His only run allowed came in the second inning when he allowed a two-run double to Marwin Gonzalez. But he came back to strike out the next two batters to limit the damage and strand a pair of runners on base.
