Mariners 3, Astros 2, 10 innings
HOUSTON -- Robinson Cano smacked his second home run of the game in the 10th inning to carry the Seattle Mariners to a wild 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park.
Cano drilled a 1-2 fastball the opposite way to left field off Astros left-hander Tony Sipp (0-2), his 11th homer pushing the Mariners back in front an inning after they blew a one-run lead in the Astros' final at-bat.
Mariners right-hander Nathan Karns dominated for five innings before the Seattle bullpen dodged multiple bullets in handing a 2-1 lead to closer Steve Cishek in the ninth inning. Astros third baseman Luis Valbuena greeted Cishek with a leadoff homer, his first this season.
Cishek (2-1) worked the 10th inning and picked up the win.
The Mariners (18-12) managed at worst a split of the four-game series with Karns proving masterful before running into trouble in the sixth inning. He allowed just three runners and recorded seven strikeouts before things got hairy. When he needed to, he buckled down.
Karns surrendered an RBI double to Astros left fielder Colby Rasmus but rallied to strike out Preston Tucker and Carlos Gomez to close the sixth with the tying run in the form of shortstop Carlos Correa on third.
The Astros (11-20) pushed two more runners into scoring position in the seventh inning, but Mariners right-hander Nick Vincent recorded two groundouts to preserve the lead. In the eighth, with Rasmus on second base, Joel Peralta got Gomez to pop out in foul territory.
Kyle Seager and Cano smacked homers off Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel to supply the early offense for Seattle.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch was ejected for the first time this season arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Ben May in the eighth inning. Gomez earned an ejection from first base umpire Jeff Nelson as Houston took the field in the 10th.
Keuchel allowed three home runs to left-handed hitters last season. That he surrendered homers to lefties in consecutive innings in part represents the issues he's had replicating his abundant 2015 success.
With one out in the second inning, Seager ricocheted a two-seam fastball off the foul pole in right field, just clearing the wall to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead. Seager extended his season-long hitting streak to eight games with the line-drive shot and it merited a review from umpires.
Cano matched Seager with his two-out shot to right field in the third inning, drilling a slider into the right-field seats. Like Seager, Cano jumped on the first pitch from Keuchel, extending the Seattle lead to 2-0.
Keuchel for the most part was sharp beyond those hiccups. Cano managed two singles off Keuchel in two other plate appearances, but Keuchel worked around a fielding error by Correa in the fourth inning before setting the Mariners down in order in the fifth.
When Seattle managed consecutive two-out hits in the sixth, Keuchel rallied to strike out Chris Iannetta to conclude a seven-pitch at-bat.
NOTES: Astros 2B Jose Altuve was not in the starting lineup for the first time this season, getting a day off to rest a sore left index finger. He suffered the injury diving for a grounder on Thursday night. Altuve finished 0-for-4 on Friday but also worked a walk to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 21 home games. ... Mariners RHP Taijuan Walker should be available to make his next scheduled start after departing early on Friday night with neck spasms. Walker woke up Friday morning experiencing discomfort and tried to rectify the issue with the Seattle training staff before his start. He was unable to turn to face the catcher and could not maintain his normal mechanics. He departed after just two innings. ... Astros LHP Tony Sipp returned from a one-game stint on the paternity list after the Friday morning birth of his daughter, Zoe Chanel Sipp.