Dominguez dethrones the king; Astros win 7-2

The Astros and Mariners took up their battle for the AL West basement from last season. On paper, the matchup of Felix Hernandez and Dallas Keuchel is a complete mismatch in the Mariners' favor. It was not was not the case tonight.

The game was scoreless going into the fifth inning. Matt Dominguez came to the plate with Alex Presley on second. Dominguez flipped a King Felix changeup over the left field wall to put the Astros up two. The Mariners would answer in the bottom of the fifth -  Kyle Seager singled, Mike Zunino doubled, and Abraham Almonte ripped a double down the line to score two. Dallas Keuchel rebounded by striking out Dustin Ackley and Robinson Cano to close out the inning.

For the majority of the season, two runs would be the extent of the Astros offense - one blast and call it a day. Not tonight. Jose Altuve lead off the sixth with a double. He was dead to rights at third on a fielder's choice, but Kyle Seager dropped the ball tagging Altuve. Dexter Fowler reached on the fielder's choice, and he later stole second. Jason Castro drove in Altuve with a sacrifice fly. Marc Krauss drove in Fowler with a single. Alex Presley tripled in Krauss. Matt Dominguez drove in Presley with a double.

Marc Krauss played add-on with a solo home run in the eighth.

The Astros put up a six spot on the 2010 American League Cy-Young winner. It was more then enough for Dallas Keuchel, who strung together his third straight excellent start. He allowed two runs on six hits over six innings, striking out eight and walked one. Chad Qualls, Matt Albers, and Josh Fields combined  for three shutout innings and just one hit. Fields' fastball was electric and topped out in the high 90s.

Astros win! Holy Toledo, Astros win!

Notes

• Astros' 5-6-7 hitters went 7-for-11 with 6 RBIs; Presley went 3-for-4
• George Springer's hitting streak ended at five, he went 0-for-4 with a strike out