Dominic Canzone hit his first career grand slam and Randy Arozarena went 4 for 4 with a homer and three RBIs as the Seattle Mariners rolled past the Houston Astros 10-2 on Tuesday night in Houston, exposing once again how a high-priced baseball machine can still get shredded when the people on the field actually execute. The Mariners’ ninth straight win over the Astros extended a franchise record, while Houston’s latest collapse came with Tatsuya Imai still searching for answers after signing a three-year, $54 million contract and then getting tagged for five hits and six runs in just four innings.
Who Got Crushed
The damage started early and kept spreading. Seattle jumped on Imai for five hits and six runs in four innings as his struggles continued in his return after sitting out more than a month with arm fatigue. Imai now has a 9.24 ERA in four starts after signing that three-year, $54 million contract with the Astros following eight professional seasons in Japan. The numbers do the talking better than any press release ever could.
The game was tied to start the fourth when Imai hit Arozarena and Luke Raley with pitches before walking J.P. Crawford to load the bases. Canzone then sent Imai’s next pitch into the seats in right field for a grand slam that put Seattle ahead 6-2. Canzone later drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth to set a career high with five RBIs.
The Mariners Kept Taking What Was There
Arozarena was everywhere Houston wasn’t. He doubled twice, tied a career high with four hits, and matched his season best with three RBIs. Raleigh also broke out of a brutal slump, singling in the seventh to snap a 0-for-38 stretch, the longest hitless streak in the majors this season. He scored on Arozarena’s double that made it 8-2 and added another single in the ninth inning.
Seattle’s offense kept finding the gaps while Houston kept handing over traffic. Raleigh walked to open the second inning before Arozarena homered off the wall in left field to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead. Zach Dezenzo hit a one-out double in the bottom of the inning and Braden Shewmake’s single cut the lead to 2-1. In the third, Woo walked Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez with no outs before the Astros tied it on a one-out RBI double by Christian Walker.
What the Scoreboard Said About Power
Mariners starter Bryan Woo allowed four hits and two runs with nine strikeouts in six innings for the win. Christian Walker and Braden Shewmake both drove in a run for the Astros, who dropped their fourth straight game. Seattle’s ninth straight win over Houston was not just another mark in the standings; it was a franchise record, the kind of streak that turns a supposedly balanced contest into a reminder of who had control from the first pitch to the last.
The Astros’ expensive bet on Imai is still producing a 9.24 ERA in four starts, and his return from more than a month out with arm fatigue only added another layer to the mess. Meanwhile, Seattle kept cashing in on every opening, every walk, every mistake, and every pitch left in the wrong place.
RHP Bryce Miller will come off the injured list to make his season debut on Wednesday night after recovering from a strained left oblique. RHP Lance McCullers Jr. will start for Houston.