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Altuve homers, Verlander dominates as Astros beat M's 3-1

SEATTLE (AP) At this rate, Jose Altuve is going to find himself invited to participate in the home run derby - no matter what he claims.

''I'm not the power hitter we all see right now, but I'll take it,'' Altuve said. ''If I keep hitting homers to help my team, I'll be happy.''

Altuve homered for the fifth straight game, Justin Verlander struck out eight of the first 10 batters he faced and finished with a season-high 11, and the Houston Astros won their eighth straight beating the Seattle Mariners 3-1 on Saturday night.

Altuve homered for the sixth time in the past five games with a solo shot off Seattle starter Felix Hernandez (1-1) in the fifth inning. Altuve is the first Astros hitter to homer in five straight games since Morgan Ensberg set a franchise record with six straight in 2006.

''Pretty remarkable, just the contact he's getting and the strength,'' Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. ''He's carrying us in a lot of ways. Big home runs. In close games, big at-bats like that matter and he continues to impress.''

Robinson Chirinos also homered as Houston handed Seattle consecutive losses for the first time this season.

''I made two mistakes, two homers. You can't make a mistake against the Astros. Facing Verlander you can't make any mistakes,'' Hernandez said.

While the homers were important, Verlander (2-0) was the reason why the Astros kept rolling.

Verlander was overpowering early and didn't allow a baserunner until Mitch Haniger's solo home run with one out in the fourth inning. Haniger's homer extended Seattle's MLB-record streak of 17 games with a home run to begin a season. Seattle has 38 homers in 17 games, but was held to a season low in runs. It was just the third time Seattle was held to less than six runs.

Daniel Vogelbach singled leading off the fifth, but that was it for baserunners allowed. Verlander walked none and only a rising pitch count equated an end to his evening. Still, he had plenty left in the later innings, hitting 98 mph with his fastball in the sixth inning and his pitch count nearing the century mark.

Verlander had allowed seven earned runs total in his previous two starts, but made a few mechanical adjustments after looking at old video and got the results he wanted.

''I was messing around a lot in the locker room yesterday with some old mechanics and pretty much from the jump today when I started throwing I knew it was the right thing,'' Verlander said. ''It felt good and it carried over into the game.

Verlander did get one key defensive play in the fifth inning when Jake Marisnick made a running catch in deep right-center field on a drive from Ryon Healy. Off the bat, Verlander thought the ball was gone, but Marisnick chased it down to end the inning and save Houston a run.

Marisnick made another fine running catch on Domingo Santana's drive to center leading off the seventh. Seattle got a bad break later in the inning when Tim Beckham's drive bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double when Vogelbach likely would have scored from first if it stayed in play. Omar Narvaez grounded out to end the threat.

Roberto Osuna pitched the ninth for his sixth save.

IMPROVED FELIX

Hernandez had a solid outing after being pulled early from his last start due to illness. Hernandez pitched six innings, allowing six hits and striking out five. Most of his trouble came in the third inning when Chirinos' homer was followed by a hit batter, an infield single by Altuve and Michael Brantley's two-out RBI single.

The Astros were complimentary of Hernandez and his mix of fastball, curveball and changeup that kept them off balance.

''We'll take that outing all day long - I know he will, too - the rest of the season,'' Seattle manager Scott Servais said. ''If we could put that in a bottle for the rest of the season, he'd be happy with it and so would we.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Astros: 3B Alex Bregman was back in the lineup after missing the previous two games with a sore hamstring. Bregman was 0 for 4.

Mariners: Seattle didn't have much of an update on starting pitcher Wade LeBlanc a day after he left the game in the fifth inning with a strained oblique. LeBlanc underwent an MRI, but the team opted not to make a roster move as it analyzed options. LeBlanc is expected to miss at least one start.

UP NEXT

Astros: Gerrit Cole (0-2, 3.32) looks for his first victory. Cole has allowed three earned runs or less in each of his starts, but has yet to earn a victory after going 15-5 last season.

Mariners: Marco Gonzales (4-0, 3.16) tries to remain unbeaten. He's the second pitcher in franchise history to win each of his first four starts to begin a season. Rick Honeycutt won his first six starts to begin the 1980 season.

---

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Astros HOU10-5	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	6	0
Mariners SEA13-4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	0

T-Mobile ParkSeattle, WA

W: J. Verlander (2-0)L: F. Hernandez (1-1)S: R. Osuna (6)
HR: HOU - J. Altuve (31), SEA - M. Haniger (15)

HOUAstros

SEAMariners

.J. VerlanderJustin Verlander
P
6.0 IP, ER, 11 SO, 105 P
.R. OsunaRoberto Osuna
P
1.0 IP, SO, 15 P

HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	FPTS
G. Springer RF	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.283	.353	.517	.870	3.0
J. Altuve 2B	4	1	2	1	1	0	2	1	.333	.379	.717	1.095	6.0
A. Bregman 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	.311	.407	.444	.852	-0.5
M. Brantley DH	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	.281	.339	.439	.777	2.0
C. Correa SS	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	.311	.392	.533	.925	-1.0
Y. Gurriel 1B	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	.302	.345	.528	.873	1.5
J. Reddick LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.286	.333	.310	.643	-0.5
R. Chirinos C	2	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	.265	.375	.588	.963	7.0
J. Marisnick CF	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.346	.414	.538	.952	-0.5

HITTERS	AB
G. Springer RF	3
J. Altuve 2B	4
A. Bregman 3B	4
M. Brantley DH	4
C. Correa SS	4
Y. Gurriel 1B	4
J. Reddick LF	4
R. Chirinos C	2
J. Marisnick CF	3

HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	FPTS
M. Smith CF	4	0	0	0	0	3	0	.236	.317	.364	.681	-1.5
M. Haniger RF	4	1	1	1	1	0	0	.278	.325	.569	.894	6.0
D. Santana LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.338	.413	.549	.962	-0.5
J. Bruce 1B	4	0	0	0	0	3	0	.179	.277	.589	.866	-1.5
D. Vogelbach DH	3	0	2	0	0	1	0	.424	.524	1.091	1.615	1.5
T. Beckham SS	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	.339	.413	.661	1.073	1.5
O. Narvaez C	3	0	0	0	0	2	3	.275	.302	.412	.714	-1.0
R. Healy 3B	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.250	.284	.515	.798	-0.5
D. Gordon 2B	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.339	.349	.441	.790	-0.5

HITTERS	AB
M. Smith CF	4
M. Haniger RF	4
D. Santana LF	4
J. Bruce 1B	4
D. Vogelbach DH	3
T. Beckham SS	3
O. Narvaez C	3
R. Healy 3B	3
D. Gordon 2B	3

2B - Y. Gurriel (7)
HR - J. Altuve (7), R. Chirinos (2)
RBI - J. Altuve (13), M. Brantley (9), R. Chirinos (5)
2-Out RBI - M. Brantley (4)
Runners left in scoring position, 2-Out - M. Brantley (7), C. Correa (7)

2B - T. Beckham (6)
HR - M. Haniger (4)
RBI - M. Haniger (14)
Runners left in scoring position, 2-Out - O. Narvaez 2 (10)

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP	FPTS
J. Verlander (W, 2-0)	6.0	2	1	1	11	1	3.52	1.04	30.5
W. Harris (H, 1)	1.0	2	0	0	0	0	0.00	1.15	1.0
R. Pressly (H, 3)	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.45	3.5
R. Osuna (S, 6)	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	1.23	0.27	10.5

PITCHERS	IP
J. Verlander (W, 2-0)	6.0
W. Harris (H, 1)	1.0
R. Pressly (H, 3)	1.0
R. Osuna (S, 6)	1.0

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP	FPTS
F. Hernandez (L, 1-1)	6.0	6	3	3	1	5	2	4.38	1.38	8.5
B. Brennan	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.66	3.5
C. Sadzeck	2.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00	0.33	7.0

PITCHERS	IP
F. Hernandez (L, 1-1)	6.0
B. Brennan	1.0
C. Sadzeck	2.0

Pitches-Strikes - J. Verlander 105-76, W. Harris 21-14, R. Pressly 14-8, R. Osuna 15-10
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - J. Verlander 5-4, W. Harris 2-2, R. Pressly 2-0, R. Osuna 1-1
Batters Faced - J. Verlander 20, W. Harris 5, R. Pressly 3, R. Osuna 3

Pitches-Strikes - F. Hernandez 93-58, B. Brennan 11-8, C. Sadzeck 25-17
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - F. Hernandez 9-4, B. Brennan 1-1, C. Sadzeck 1-0
Batters Faced - F. Hernandez 25, B. Brennan 3, C. Sadzeck 6

.J. VerlanderJustin Verlander
P
6.0 IP, ER, 11 SO, 105 P
.R. OsunaRoberto Osuna
P
1.0 IP, SO, 15 P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Astros HOU10-5	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	6	0
Mariners SEA13-4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	0

T-Mobile ParkSeattle, WA

HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	FPTS
G. Springer RF	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.283	.353	.517	.870	3.0
J. Altuve 2B	4	1	2	1	1	0	2	1	.333	.379	.717	1.095	6.0
A. Bregman 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	.311	.407	.444	.852	-0.5
M. Brantley DH	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	.281	.339	.439	.777	2.0
C. Correa SS	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	.311	.392	.533	.925	-1.0
Y. Gurriel 1B	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	.302	.345	.528	.873	1.5
J. Reddick LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.286	.333	.310	.643	-0.5
R. Chirinos C	2	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	.265	.375	.588	.963	7.0
J. Marisnick CF	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.346	.414	.538	.952	-0.5
Total	32	3	6	3	2	1	8	10	-	-	-	-	-

HITTERS	AB
G. Springer RF	3
J. Altuve 2B	4
A. Bregman 3B	4
M. Brantley DH	4
C. Correa SS	4
Y. Gurriel 1B	4
J. Reddick LF	4
R. Chirinos C	2
J. Marisnick CF	3
Total	32

HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	FPTS
M. Smith CF	4	0	0	0	0	3	0	.236	.317	.364	.681	-1.5
M. Haniger RF	4	1	1	1	1	0	0	.278	.325	.569	.894	6.0
D. Santana LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.338	.413	.549	.962	-0.5
J. Bruce 1B	4	0	0	0	0	3	0	.179	.277	.589	.866	-1.5
D. Vogelbach DH	3	0	2	0	0	1	0	.424	.524	1.091	1.615	1.5
T. Beckham SS	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	.339	.413	.661	1.073	1.5
O. Narvaez C	3	0	0	0	0	2	3	.275	.302	.412	.714	-1.0
R. Healy 3B	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.250	.284	.515	.798	-0.5
D. Gordon 2B	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.339	.349	.441	.790	-0.5
Total	31	1	4	1	1	13	5	-	-	-	-	-

HITTERS	AB
M. Smith CF	4
M. Haniger RF	4
D. Santana LF	4
J. Bruce 1B	4
D. Vogelbach DH	3
T. Beckham SS	3
O. Narvaez C	3
R. Healy 3B	3
D. Gordon 2B	3
Total	31

2B - Y. Gurriel (7)
HR - J. Altuve (7), R. Chirinos (2)
RBI - J. Altuve (13), M. Brantley (9), R. Chirinos (5)
2-Out RBI - M. Brantley (4)
Runners left in scoring position, 2-Out - M. Brantley (7), C. Correa (7)

2B - T. Beckham (6)
HR - M. Haniger (4)
RBI - M. Haniger (14)
Runners left in scoring position, 2-Out - O. Narvaez 2 (10)

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP	FPTS
J. Verlander (W, 2-0)	6.0	2	1	1	11	1	3.52	1.04	30.5
W. Harris (H, 1)	1.0	2	0	0	0	0	0.00	1.15	1.0
R. Pressly (H, 3)	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.45	3.5
R. Osuna (S, 6)	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	1.23	0.27	10.5
Total	9.0	4	1	1	13	1	-	-	-

PITCHERS	IP
J. Verlander (W, 2-0)	6.0
W. Harris (H, 1)	1.0
R. Pressly (H, 3)	1.0
R. Osuna (S, 6)	1.0
Total	9.0

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP	FPTS
F. Hernandez (L, 1-1)	6.0	6	3	3	1	5	2	4.38	1.38	8.5
B. Brennan	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.66	3.5
C. Sadzeck	2.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00	0.33	7.0
Total	9.0	6	3	3	1	8	2	-	-	-

PITCHERS	IP
F. Hernandez (L, 1-1)	6.0
B. Brennan	1.0
C. Sadzeck	2.0
Total	9.0

Pitches-Strikes - J. Verlander 105-76, W. Harris 21-14, R. Pressly 14-8, R. Osuna 15-10
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - J. Verlander 5-4, W. Harris 2-2, R. Pressly 2-0, R. Osuna 1-1
Batters Faced - J. Verlander 20, W. Harris 5, R. Pressly 3, R. Osuna 3

Pitches-Strikes - F. Hernandez 93-58, B. Brennan 11-8, C. Sadzeck 25-17
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - F. Hernandez 9-4, B. Brennan 1-1, C. Sadzeck 1-0
Batters Faced - F. Hernandez 25, B. Brennan 3, C. Sadzeck 6

SCORING

ALL PLAYS

3RD INNING
Chirinos homered to left center 1 0
Brantley singled to center, Springer scored, Altuve to third 2 0
4TH INNING
Haniger homered to center 2 1
5TH INNING
Altuve homered to center 3 1

3RD INNING
	Chirinos homered to left center	1	0
	Brantley singled to center, Springer scored, Altuve to third	2	0

4TH INNING
	Haniger homered to center	2	1

5TH INNING
	Altuve homered to center	3	1

1ST INNING
Astros
F. Hernandez Pitching:
G. Springer: Ball, Springer singled to center
J. Altuve: Strike swinging, Strike looking, Pickoff attempt, Ball, Ball, Springer to second on wild pitch, Foul, Foul tip, Altuve struck out on foul tip
A. Bregman: Ball, Strike looking, Foul, Ball, Strike swinging, Bregman struck out swinging
M. Brantley: Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Brantley grounded out to shortstop
Middle of the 1st (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
Mariners
J. Verlander Pitching:
M. Smith: Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul tip, Smith struck out on foul tip
M. Haniger: Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Ball, Haniger grounded out to second
D. Santana: Foul, Strike looking, Foul, Foul, Ball, Foul, Ball, Foul, Strike swinging, Santana struck out swinging
End of the 1st (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
2ND INNING
Astros
F. Hernandez Pitching:
C. Correa: Strike looking, Ball, Correa flied out to right
Y. Gurriel: Ball, Gurriel grounded out to third
J. Reddick: Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Foul, Reddick flied out to left
Middle of the 2nd (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
Mariners
J. Verlander Pitching:
J. Bruce: Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul, Foul, Strike swinging, Bruce struck out swinging
D. Vogelbach: Strike looking, Foul, Ball, Foul, Ball, Ball, Strike swinging, Vogelbach struck out swinging
T. Beckham: Strike looking, Strike looking, Ball, Strike swinging, Beckham struck out swinging
End of the 2nd (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
3RD INNING
Astros
F. Hernandez Pitching:
R. Chirinos: Ball, Strike looking, Chirinos homered to left center
J. Marisnick: Marisnick lined out to shortstop
G. Springer: Foul, Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Springer hit by pitch
J. Altuve: Foul, Strike looking, Ball, Altuve reached on an infield single to shortstop, Springer to second
A. Bregman: Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Bregman lined out to right
M. Brantley: Brantley singled to center, Springer scored, Altuve to third
C. Correa: Ball, Strike looking, Pickoff attempt to first, Strike looking, Strike swinging, Correa struck out swinging
Middle of the 3rd (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)
Mariners
J. Verlander Pitching:
O. Narvaez: Ball, Strike looking, Strike swinging, Ball, Foul, Strike swinging, Narvaez struck out swinging
R. Healy: Strike looking, Strike looking, Strike swinging, Healy struck out swinging
D. Gordon: Ball, Foul, Ball, Foul, Ball, Gordon flied out to right
End of the 3rd (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
4TH INNING
Astros
F. Hernandez Pitching:
Y. Gurriel: Strike looking, Strike looking, Foul, Gurriel doubled to shallow left
J. Reddick: Reddick grounded out to second, Gurriel to third
R. Chirinos: Ball, Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul, Ball, Ball, Chirinos walked
J. Marisnick: Foul, Marisnick grounded out to second, Chirinos out at second
Middle of the 4th (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
Mariners
J. Verlander Pitching:
M. Smith: Strike swinging, Strike swinging, Foul, Strike looking, Smith struck out looking
M. Haniger: Strike looking, Haniger homered to center
D. Santana: Santana grounded out to shortstop
J. Bruce: Ball, Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Foul, Foul, Foul, Strike swinging, Bruce struck out swinging
End of the 4th (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
5TH INNING
Astros
F. Hernandez Pitching:
G. Springer: Ball, Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Foul, Springer lined out to right
J. Altuve: Strike swinging, Ball, Ball, Strike swinging, Ball, Altuve homered to center
A. Bregman: Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Bregman lined out to third
M. Brantley: Brantley grounded out to second
Middle of the 5th (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
Mariners
J. Verlander Pitching:
D. Vogelbach: Strike looking, Strike looking, Ball, Foul, Vogelbach singled to right center
T. Beckham: Strike looking, Strike swinging, Pickoff attempt, Beckham reached on fielder's choice to third, Vogelbach out at second
O. Narvaez: Pickoff attempt, Ball, Strike looking, Foul, Strike swinging, Narvaez struck out swinging
R. Healy: Ball, Healy flied out to deep center
End of the 5th (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
6TH INNING
Astros
F. Hernandez Pitching:
C. Correa: Ball, Strike swinging, Strike looking, Ball, Foul, Strike looking, Correa struck out looking
Y. Gurriel: Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Strike looking, Gurriel struck out looking
J. Reddick: Reddick grounded out to shortstop
Middle of the 6th (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
Mariners
J. Verlander Pitching:
D. Gordon: Strike looking, Foul, Foul, Ball, Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul, Foul, Foul, Ball, Gordon flied out to right
M. Smith: Strike swinging, Strike looking, Strike swinging, Smith struck out swinging
M. Haniger: Ball, Strike looking, Strike swinging, Ball, Foul, Foul, Haniger grounded out to third
End of the 6th (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
7TH INNING
Astros
Brandon Brennan relieved Felix Hernandez
R. Chirinos: Strike looking, Chirinos flied out to right
J. Marisnick: Ball, Strike swinging, Strike swinging, Strike swinging, Marisnick struck out swinging
G. Springer: Strike looking, Ball, Foul, Ball, Springer grounded out to pitcher
Middle of the 7th (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
Mariners
Will Harris relieved Justin Verlander
D. Santana: Strike swinging, Ball, Ball, Santana lined out to center
J. Bruce: Bruce flied out to left
D. Vogelbach: Strike looking, Ball, Strike looking, Foul, Foul, Ball, Vogelbach singled to left
T. Beckham: Foul, Ball, Strike (foul tip), Beckham doubled to deep right center, Vogelbach to third
O. Narvaez: Ball, Strike looking, Ball, Strike looking, Narvaez grounded out to second
End of the 7th (0 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)
8TH INNING
Astros
Connor Sadzeck relieved Brandon Brennan
J. Altuve: Ball, Ball, Strike swinging, Strike swinging, Strike swinging, Altuve struck out swinging
A. Bregman: Strike looking, Foul, Ball, Bregman popped out to second
M. Brantley: Strike looking, Ball, Foul, Foul, Ball, Ball, Brantley lined out to left
Middle of the 8th (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
Mariners
Ryan Pressly relieved Will Harris
R. Healy: Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Ball, Healy grounded out to shortstop
D. Gordon: Ball, Strike looking, Strike swinging, Ball, Strike swinging, Gordon struck out swinging
M. Smith: Strike looking, Ball, Smith grounded out to first
End of the 8th (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
9TH INNING
Astros
C. Sadzeck Pitching:
C. Correa: Strike looking, Strike swinging, Ball, Correa grounded out to pitcher
Y. Gurriel: Gurriel fouled out to first
J. Reddick: Strike looking, Foul, Ball, Strike looking, Reddick struck out looking
Middle of the 9th (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
Mariners
Roberto Osuna relieved Ryan Pressly
M. Haniger: Ball, Strike swinging, Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Haniger flied out to shallow right
D. Santana: Strike looking, Foul, Foul, Santana grounded out to third
J. Bruce: Strike swinging, Foul, Ball, Ball, Strike swinging, Bruce struck out swinging
End of the 9th (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)