The Houston Astros have begun their 2017 campaign with an in-division series win against the Seattle Mariners.
Astros Win Opening Series Against Mariners
Game One: April 3
On Opening Day of the 2017 season, the Astros came away with a win by a final score of 3-0, in front of 41,678 fans. Astros shortstop Carlos Correa helped out the cause by going 1-for-2, with his only hit being a two-run homer in the fourth inning.
Correa talked about Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez‘s performance, and the performance of Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel.
“He had good command, obviously,” Correa said in a post-game interview on the field with Root Sports Houston. “But we were able to get a couple of runs on the board and then Keuchel was just lights out and gave us a chance to win the game.”
Correa then spoke about the home run he hit out of Minute Maid Park.
“It was super fun. I was hoping it would just stay fair and when I looked, it stayed fair,” Correa said in the same interview.
Keuchel went seven strong innings and only allowed two hits, two walks, and no runs. He also struck out four batters.
Game Two: April 4
In the second game of the series, the Astros once again grabbed the win. This time, it wasn’t by as dominating of a margin. However, Houston got it done with a victory of 2-1.
After the second game of the series, Astros manager A.J. Hinch talked about Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers‘ first appearance of the season.
“I thought he was good, especially early,” Hinch said in the post-game press conference. “He was very efficient in the first three innings and then he ran into trouble in the fourth, fifth and sixth. He’s got the escapability to get out of these jams with his breaking ball and even some of his fastballs, mix in there some changeups.”
McCullers continued to be the subject of conversation for Hinch.
“He got nickel-and-dime a bit with some infield hits and a chopper here and a miss hit here and still maintained course and was able to get through those three innings while he was in trouble,” Hinch said in the post-game press conference.
McCullers went six innings, allowing one earned run on five hits, while striking out seven and walking two.
Game Three: April 5
The third game of the series went into extra innings. It eventually ended in the 13th inning on a walk-off three-run homer from Astros center fielder George Springer, which landed in the Landry’s Crawford Boxes in short left field.
Springer elaborated a bit on the home run that sent the Astros to a 3-0 start to the season.
“Just trying to get something up in the zone and I went down [in the count] after a curveball 2-1 and just trying to get to the next guy and it ended up being a homer,” Springer said on the field after the game.
In the game, Springer went 2-for-7 with one strikeout, and drove in all five runs for the Astros.
Charlie Morton made his debut as the starting pitcher for the orange and blue. He threw six innings, and allowed five hits and two walks. He struck out four and gave up two earned runs. Morton also gave up a home run in the game. Morton threw 90 pitches, including 59 strikes.
Another hero for the ‘Stros was relief pitcher Chris Devenski, who ended the night with seven K’s in four innings of work, with no earned runs allowed. He also ended the night with a WHIP of 0.25.
Devenski afterwards was very appreciative of Gattis behind the plate.
“Me and [Evan] Gattis, we were on the same page tonight and I was trusting him. He was calling all the right pitches at the right time,” Devenski said in the locker room after the game. “I was trusting him and my defense. We had some good plays out there. Very happy with the ‘W’ today.”
Game Four: April 6
Houston dropped the last game of the series against the Mariners by a final score of 4-2. The Astros go to a record of 3-1 on the season, and lead the American League West by a one game over the Los Angeles Angels.
Up Next
The Astros will look to continue their early success, as they take on the Kansas City Royals to continue their home stretch to open the 2017 season. The three-game series starts at 7:10 p.m. on Friday.
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