Astros 5, Mariners 4 (11)
George Springer’s infield single drove in Jose Altuve with none out in the 11th inning as Houston downed visiting Seattle in the opener of a three-game series.
The Astros loaded the bases against Charlie Furbush (0-3) on Altuve’s single, Dexter Fowler’s bunt single and a sacrifice bunt by Carlos Corporan in which Altuve beat Furbush’s throw to third. Springer, who struck out four times, hit a high hopper off the glove of Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager on the second pitch as Altuve easily scored the winning run.
Anthony Bass (1-0) tossed two innings of hitless relief as Houston improved to 3-1 against Seattle this season. Altuve had three hits and Marc Krauss had two RBIs for the Astros while Mike Zunino hit a two-run homer and Seager had a two-run double for Seattle.
The Mariners loaded the bases in the sixth and Seager smacked a deep blast to right-center field that Springer was unable to corral against the fence and two runners scored to give Seattle a 4-3 lead. The Astros tied it in the eighth on a high bouncing infield out by Jonathan Villar that scored Alex Presley from third.
Krauss had a run-scoring single to cap a two-run third inning as Houston took the lead and the Mariners tied it in the fifth when Zunino slammed a two-run blast over the left-field fence. Krauss again delivered a run-scoring single in the bottom of the inning to give the Astros a 3-2 lead.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Seattle RHP Felix Hernandez gave up three runs (two earned) and five hits in five innings, while Astros RHP Brad Peacock allowed four runs and six hits in six innings. … Seager has 13 RBIs – seven coming against Houston – over his last seven games. … LHP Tony Sipp struck out two in 1 1/3 perfect innings in his Houston debut.