Astros 3, Mariners 2: Extra Innings Excitement Keeps Winning Streak Alive

It seems like forever since the Astros played in front of the home crowd.  Ok maybe "crowd" is overstating it.  It looks like the current streak has not brought standing room only tickets back to MMP just yet, but there is definitely more excitement about the team than there has been in many years.  Scott Feldman took the mound looking to make it seven wins  in a row, and 11 out of the last 12.

Feldman ran into some bad luck in the first inning.  The first three Mariners to come to the plate reached base with infield singles.  With the bases loaded and no outs it looked like it might be a long night, but a double play helped limit the damage to only 2 runs.  It seemed like the M's had runners on base and in scoring position all night but couldn't push another run across.

On offense the Astros had a tough time with runners in scoring position.  Both of the runs they scored in regulation were on RBI groundouts by Evan Gattis.  They stranded runners at third base in the first three innings.  They did just enough to keep the game tied.  The bullpen, along with some great defense, shut down the Mariners offense.  They headed to extra innings with the score tied 2-2.

In the top of the 10th, Seattle got the leadoff man aboard, but Chris Carter made a diving catch on Austin Jackson's pop-up bunt attempt.  Then Luke Gregerson got Robinson Cano to ground into a double play to end the inning.  In the bottom of the 10th, Marwin Gonzalez hit a double that was barely inside the first base line with one out.  After a Colby Rasmus pinch-hit walk, Altuve drove a single off the scoreboard in left to drive in Gonzalez with the winning run.  Amazingly it was Altuve's first walk-off hit of his career.

So a little bonus baseball to start of a series never hurt anyone.  Let's all hope the road trip bats show up tonight in the battle of the replacement pitchers as Samuel Deduno gets his first start of the season against the M's  Roenis Elias at 7:10.

Fun Facts

Altuve's multi-hit game streak is now at 8 games.

Altuve also now leads the AL in steals with 9.

Feldman threw his third quality start in a row, and 4th out of 5 this year.  It was also his longest start of the year.

Tweet of the Night (Next Morning Edition)

Of course, the Astros could lose the next 23 games in a row and have the same record they did thru 45 games during '05 NL pennant year. Cray

— Brian McTaggart ⚾️ (@brianmctaggart) May 1, 2015