HOUSTON — Pinch-hitter Jason Castro drew a bases-loaded walk to put Houston in front during a four-run eighth inning, and the Astros rallied to beat the Seattle Mariners 7-5 on Wednesday night.
Houston has won six of its last seven and handed Seattle its third straight loss.
The Astros pulled ahead in the eighth without an extra-base hit. Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel had back-to-back singles against Rafael Montero (2-1) with one out. An error by first baseman Evan White allowed Tucker to score on a fielder’s choice, and Aledmys Diaz singled to score Gurriel.
“We trust each other in the clubhouse,” Diaz said. “Nobody tries to be a hero.”
Will Vest came in and walked Castro, and Jose Altuve followed with a sacrifice fly.
Joe Smith (1-1) struck out one in a scoreless eighth. Ryne Stanek worked the ninth for his first save of the season.
Montero was charged with three hits and four runs, two earned, in 2/3 of an inning.
“That one stings a little bit tonight,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I thought we swung the bat a lot better tonight. There were some positives, but unfortunately the eighth inning got away from us. You’ve got to give some credit to the Astros because they’re tough to put away in this ballpark.”
Houston starter Zack Greinke allowed four runs on four hits in four innings, striking out five.
Seattle catcher Luis Torrens matched a career high with three RBI, all off Greinke. He entered Wednesday with 14 RBI in 291 at-bats.
Torrens hit his first home run of the season — the second of his career — an estimated 426 feet on an 87 mph fastball, the first pitch of the third inning. In the fourth, he had a two-run double that gave Seattle a 3-2 lead.
J.P. Crawford also had an RBI double in Seattle’s three-run fourth.
Seattle starter Justin Dunn allowed three runs and four hits while striking out two and walking two in 5ž innings.
Kyle Lewis homered in the fifth for Seattle.
M’s left-hander James Paxton underwent Tommy John surgery last week and will miss the remainder of the season, Servais said.
Seattle Houston
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Haggerty 2b 4 0 1 0 Altuve 2b 4 0 0 1
France dh 3 0 0 0 Brantly dh 5 0 0 0
Seager 3b 4 0 1 0 Bregmn 3b 4 0 0 0
Lewis cf 4 1 1 1 Tucker rf 3 2 1 0
White 1b 4 0 0 0 Gurriel 1b 4 2 2 0
Marmolejs rf 3 1 1 0 Correa ss 4 1 1 1
Moore pr 0 0 0 0 MCrmck lf 3 1 1 1
Trammell lf 3 1 0 0 Diaz ph-lf 1 1 1 1
Torrens c 4 2 2 3 Straw cf 2 0 2 1
Crawford ss 4 0 1 1 Maldndo c 2 0 0 0
Castro ph 0 0 0 1
Totals 33 5 7 5 Totals 32 7 8 6
Seattle 001 310 000—5
Houston 020 001 04x—7
E—White (2). LOB—Seattle 4, Houston 7. 2B—Seager (8), Torrens (3), Crawford (3), Gurriel (7). HR—Torrens (1), Lewis (2). SB—Tucker (2), Straw (5). SF—Altuve (2).
IP H R ER BB SO
Seattle
Dunn 52/3 4 3 3 2 2
Sadler H,2 1/3 1 0 0 0 1
Middleton H,1 2/3 0 0 0 0 0
Montero L,2-1 2/3 3 4 2 1 0
Vest 2/3 0 0 0 1 0
Houston
Greinke 4 4 4 4 2 5
Bielak 3 2 1 1 0 2
Smith W,1-1 1 1 0 0 0 2
Stanek S,1-1 1 0 0 0 0 1
HBP—Greinke (France), Middleton (Straw).
Umpires—Home, Kyle McCrady; First, Alfonso Marquez; Second, Lance Barrett; Third, Tim Timmons.
T—3:29. A—12,707 (41,168).