Paxton, Cruz fuel Mariners in rout of Astros
SEATTLE -- James Paxton has faced the Houston Astros on two occasions this season, and twice the Seattle Mariners left-hander stymied one of the league's top offenses.
Paxton one-upped his previous outing, tossing seven shutout innings and striking out eight as the Seattle Mariners opened their home schedule with a 6-0 win over the Astros on Monday.
Seattle got its offense going as Nelson Cruz highlighted his three-hit performance with a two-run single in the fifth inning. Mitch Haniger added an RBI single among his two hits.
The Astros did little against Paxton's high-90s heat. Shortstop Carlos Correa collected three singles, but a Carlos Beltran base hit was all Houston mustered otherwise against Paxton, who walked two.
Last Wednesday, Paxton (1-0) threw six scoreless innings at Houston.
Seattle reliever Dan Altavilla struggled in the eighth inning. The Astros loaded the bases beginning with a Yuli Gurriel double -- Houston's lone extra-base hit of the game -- but Altavilla struck out George Springer and Correa and escape the inning unscathed.
The Mariners chased Charlie Morton (0-1) after five innings, three runs and seven hits. Seattle plated two more off Tony Sipp and Michael Feliz in the sixth after right fielder Josh Reddick airmailed a throw to third base that allowed Mike Zunino and Jarrod Dyson to score.
The Mariners capped the scoring in the seventh inning on a Danny Valencia sacrifice fly after hits by Cruz and Kyle Seager.
NOTES: Mariners SS Jean Segura exited the game with a right hamstring strain after the third inning. Taylor Motter replaced him and scored on a Nelson Cruz single in the fifth inning. ... Seattle has now won its last two against Houston, though it has lost 12 of 18 dating to last season. ... Neither pitcher factored into the decision in the teams' meeting in Houston, so James Paxton and Charlie Morton picked up their first respective win and loss of the season.