We share some observations from a series win against the Houston Astros, which was important for the development of the Mariners.
There will be those who argue winning a series against a Houston Astros ball club missing five players due to Covid-19 is nothing for Mariners fans to shout about. Indeed, with the likes of José Altuve, Yordan Álvarez and Alex Bregman out, it certainly weakened the Astros’ lineup.
However, you can only beat the players in front of you and the Mariners still had to go out there and win the games. In this respect, the series victory was an important step in the development of a young ball club, especially against an opponent which has often had the upper hand in recent years.
Next up will be a more difficult challenge against the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. First of all however, here are three takeaways from the Astros series, together with other noteworthy highlights:
More late innings heroics
One of the main traits of this 2021 edition of the Mariners, has been their propensity to not give up, no matter how hopeless a situation seems. This can be highlighted by their runs scored per inning, heading into the weekend series with the Astros.
Consider that through innings 1-5, the M’s had scored 24 runs through the first 13 games of the season. By comparison, they had scored 33 from the sixth inning onward.
The main examples of this never-quit attitude were on opening day versus the San Francisco Giants, as well as the series finales against the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins respectively. Now you can add Friday’s game at home against the Astros to the list.
The deficit may not have been as big as the games mentioned above, but it was still significant enough to add to the narrative of another thrilling comeback. The Mariners found themselves down 3-0 as they came to bat in the bottom of the sixth.
As has often been the case this season, it was the M’s triple threat of Mitch Haniger, Ty France and Kyle Seager who lit the fuse for the recovery. Haniger and France both reached base with hits, before being brought home by a Seager double, to get to within 3-2.
The resiliency of Seattle was tested, as Houston scored another two runs in the top of the seventh, to increase the lead back to three runs. However, the home side were once more ready to answer the challenge.
With two players on base, Haniger continued what was an outstanding individual night for him with his third hit, to score one run with the 200th RBI of his Major League career. Then France hit a sacrifice fly to bring another man home and pull the Mariners to within one run, at 5-4.
In the bottom of the eighth, it was the turn of an unlikely player to provide the game-tying hit. Evan White has received his fair amount of criticism for a poor showing with the bat this season.
However, White has been improving of late and Friday was the ideal opportunity to illustrate this. And he answered the challenge in style, as he tied the game at 5-5 with his first home run of the 2021 season.
This set the stage for France to be the hero in the ninth, after the Astros had been blanked in the top half of the inning. He came to the plate with two players on base, but two outs.
This did little to unnerve the 26-year-old, who has been fantastic for the M’s ever since spring training started. He promptly found the gap in right-center to bring J.P. Crawford home, with his first ever walk-off hit.
A delighted France talked about the approach of the Mariners with the media after the game. He said:
“We’re a team who’s got to scrap it together. It takes those walks from J.P., those type of innings that get [us] going.
“Late in the game, that’s huge for us. And the energy in the dugout never changed all game, which was fun to be a part of.”
For the season, the Mariners now have five comeback wins. This includes four wins after trailing by three or more runs and two walk-offs.
NEXT: A PROMISING ADDITION TO THE STARTING ROTATION