Cal Raleigh homers to lift Mariners past Astros

Cal Raleigh slugged a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning as the Seattle Mariners rallied for a 5-4 victory over the host Houston Astros in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday to claim their sixth consecutive series win.

Raleigh homered for the second time in as many games, drilling an 0-2 sinker from Astros closer Josh Hader (1-3) for his eighth home run, a 394-foot blast to left field. It marked the second consecutive inning that Seattle scored off the Houston bullpen, as the Mariners rallied from a 4-3 deficit after coughing up a three-run lead.

Seattle pulled even in the eighth by manufacturing a run off Astros reliever Bryan Abreu. Dylan Moore reached with one out after being hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a balk. Luis Arias followed with a humpback single to center that scored Moore and knotted the game at 4-4.

Closer Andres Munoz (2-2) recorded the final four outs to secure the victory.

Mariners starter Bryce Miller dominated the Astros through five innings, facing just two batters over the minimum while carrying 56 pitches on his ledger into the bottom of the sixth. He induced an inning-ending double play from Alex Bregman in the first inning after Jose Altuve and Kyle Tucker reached via a single and a walk, respectively, then retired the next eight batters in order before Bregman reached with a two-out single in the fourth.

But after totaling only two hits off Miller through five innings, the Astros doubled that total in the sixth when Altuve stroked a single to left before Tucker followed with his ninth home run, a two-run shot to right field that pulled the Astros to within 3-2.

An inning later, Jeremy Pena reached with a leadoff single before Jon Singleton chased Miller with his third homer, another two-run blast to right that, like Tucker, came against the breaking ball. Miller surrendered four earned runs, snapping a streak of 21 consecutive games by Mariners starters allowing two earned runs or fewer.

Seattle's Josh Rojas, who went 3-for-4 with a walk and finished a homer shy of the cycle, followed a bases-loaded walk for Urias with an RBI single in the second off Astros starter Hunter Brown that provided the Mariners a 2-0 lead. Luke Raley homered off Astros reliever Rafael Montero leading off the sixth inning, his first home run with Seattle.

--Field Level Media