Dominant performance by the Mariners gives them series opening win against the Astros
By Bel Garcia
Seattle, WA - On 90’s night, in front of a crowd of 26,017, the Mariners came out strong right from the jump to start the weekend right. They had 4 quick points on the board in the 1st inning and were able to maintain the lead for the rest of the game. The first to score and start us off on the right track to no surprise was Julio Rodriguez with his 6th of the season, J-ROD is quickly growing into a very exciting player. The home runs would not stop there for Seattle, as they scored three more and two of them were 2-run homers.
Chris Flexen had a solid night for Seattle, a key factor in their win (Photo Mat Bermudez)
Flexen on them
Chris Flexen was on the mound tonight to start the game and he did not disappoint. He only allowed earned run against the Astros. He has eight starts with at least seven innings pitched and no more than one run allowed, dating back to the start of 2021. That is the most in the American League in that time. Flexen’s time on the mound came to an end after the 7th inning, he ended the night with seven hits, one run, one earned run, two walks, six strikeouts and a 4.47 ERA on 99 pitches.
Kyle Lewis homered in this game, for the first time since May 28th of last year (Photo Mat Bermudez)
You get a homer; you get a homer…
What went right for the Mariners? Well, the bats were hitting for more than 350 feet tonight on those home runs. The wealth was contributed throughout the lineup as all four homers were hit by a different player. The order of homers that were hit were by Julio Rodriguez, Kyle Lewis, Ty France, and Taylor Trammell. All these players are age 27 or younger, which ties a franchise record. The last time this statistic was achieved was on May 16th, 2019. J-ROD and Kyle Lewis started the bomb party in the first inning, and both had 2-run homers to give the Mariners an early 4-0 lead. This was Kyle Lewis’ longest 2-run HR of his career off of Justin Verlander, traveling a distance of 441 feet. The Astros were unable to recover or bring the game any closer as they only had one run in the second inning and then not again. There were consistent plays by JP Crawford as well that might not be shown on the stat sheet, but his defense always seems to show up.
JP Crawford is now an offensive and defensive star (Photo Mat Bermudez)
It was an exciting night for Seattle sports, and Mariners fans came ready to cheer on the Mariners (and boo the Astros). A 90’s themed night full of music from the 90’s and trivia, as well as sing alongs sure filled the arena with winning vibes. With this win there is hope that they can continue with this momentum and get back to winning a series. The second matchup in this three game series is tomorrow, Saturday May 28th. First pitch is at 7:10PM PST, as there will be no more 6:40PM PST first pitches until September. Logan Gilbert gets the nod on the mound for Seattle, while Jose Urquidy gets the start for the Astros.