Astros 13, Mariners 0: Astros bats, McCullers thump Mariners in series finale

The Astros quickly ran away and hide from the Mariners, obliterating the M's 13-0 on Sunday.

Lance McCullers continues to show he is major league ready, pitching five hitless innings. He struck out four, walked four on 90 pitches. For anyone expecting McCullers to be allowed to go for the no-hitter, at his current pace McCullers would have needed 162 pitches to get through nine innings. Not to mention the fact that he had to sit for 20 minutes at a time while the Astros offense racked against the Mariners.

The aforementioned Astros offense scored in six innings on Sunday, chasing Seattle starter Roenis Elias after 3 1/3 innings and eight runs allowed. Houston loaded the bases in the first, scoring three runs on a single and a fielding error by Kyle Seager.

In the third, Jake Marisnick hit a ground-rule double to plate Evan Gattis from second. Elias walked the next two players for another run.

Astros had back-to-back singles to start the fourth. Carlos Correa scored on a Colby Rasmus single from second. Danny Farquhar came into pitch, and Hank Conger greeted him with a double - scoring two more. Luis Valbuena put the icing on the cake with a two-run home run.

The Mariners walked home a second run on the day in the fifth,  and Marwin Gonzalez added a home run of his own it the sixth.

Preston Tucker drove home the final run of the game in the eight, scoring Valbuena with a double.

The Astros play a two-game home and homes series with the Rockies starting Monday.