Astros 8, Mariners 3
HOUSTON -- Left-hander Dallas Keuchel matched the club record for consecutive home wins and received ample run support as the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 8-3 Monday night at Minute Maid Park.
Keuchel (16-6) leads the American League in victories after allowing one run on six hits and one walk with eight strikeouts over seven innings. He earned his 13th consecutive win in Houston, a streak that dates to last season and matches one by Danny Darwin.
Third baseman Jed Lowrie, catcher Hank Conger and rookie shortstop Carlos Correa all homered off Mariners left-hander Vidal Nuno (0-2) to support Keuchel and help Houston clinch the season series over the Mariners.
The Astros (73-59) improved to 7-1 at Minute Maid Park against Seattle this season.
The Mariners (61-71) dropped an eighth consecutive road series opener against an AL foe.
Keuchel surrendered his first home run at Minute Maid Park this season with two outs in the second inning when Mariners first baseman Mark Trumbo crushed an opposite-field shot to the upper deck in right. Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre was the previous opposing player to homer off Keuchel in Houston, doing so Aug. 10, 2014.
Trumbo added his second of the night, 10th with the Mariners and 19th of the season overall in the ninth inning, a two-run shot off Oliver Perez.
Trumbo's first blast erased a 1-0 lead the Astros established in the first inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Astros responded, but not until after Keuchel escaped a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the top half of the frame by inducing a double play from left fielder Franklin Gutierrez before striking out Trumbo to strand a pair of baserunners in scoring position.
Houston rebuilt its one-run lead when Lowrie smacked an opposite-field home run down the right field line with one out in the bottom of the fourth, his sixth on the season and second since coming off the disabled list on July 30. Conger followed two batters later with a towering shot to left, his ninth overall.
Correa doubled the Astros' lead to 5-1 with a two-run shot to left-center off Nuno with one out in the fifth, scoring second baseman Jose Altuve (3-for-5). With his 16th home run, Correa closed to within four of matching the club record for a shortstop, set by Dickie Thon in 1983.
Nuno surrendered five runs on seven hits in six innings.
NOTES: The Mariners traded CF Austin Jackson to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for a player to be named and international draft slot money. Jackson, acquired at the 2014 non-waiver trade deadline from the Detroit Tigers, hit .257/.297/.343 with eight home runs and 52 RBIs over 161 games with Seattle. The Mariners will give former SS Brad Miller an extensive look in center field. ... Astros SS Carlos Correa returned to the lineup after missing four games with left hamstring soreness. ... Mariners RHP Felix Hernandez will start Saturday at Oakland manager Lloyd McClendon announced. Hernandez previously was scheduled to start Monday night against the Astros, but his turn was skipped so he could freshen up.