A depleted Houston Astros lineup had no answer for Josh Naylor on Monday afternoon at T-Mobile Park, as the Seattle Mariners first baseman homered twice and drove in five runs to lead Seattle to a 6-2 victory and complete a four-game sweep of the Astros.
The loss drops the Astros to 6-11 on the season and extends their losing streak to 8 games, the longest skid for the franchise since a 15-game losing streak in 2013.
Naylor did his damage early. In the bottom of the first, with Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez aboard, he launched a three-run home run off Mike Burrows to right center field, staking Seattle to an immediate 3-0 lead. He wasn’t done. In the third inning, with Raleigh again on base, Naylor went deep a second time with a two-run shot to center that pushed the margin to 5-0.
Burrows absorbed the damage, lasting six innings but surrendering six runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts. He fell to 1-3 on the season with an ERA of 6.55.
George Kirby was sharp for Seattle, working 7.2 innings and allowing just two earned runs on seven hits while striking out six. Matt Brash and Cole Wilcox closed it out.
Houston’s offense finally stirred in the fifth inning. Cam Smith singled and moved to second on a Taylor Trammell single. Yainer Diaz then lined a sharp single to center, scoring Smith. Two batters later, Nick Allen grounded into a double play, but Trammell crossed the plate on the exchange, making it 5-2, which would be all the Astros could manage.
Trammell, starting in center field in place of the injured Jake Meyers went 1 for 3 with a run scored and several nice plays in the outfield. Carlos Correa shifted to shortstop later in the game after Shay Whitcomb entered at third base.
The game was played against the backdrop of a busy morning of bad news, with the Astros placing both shortstop Jeremy Peña and starter Tatsuya Imai on the injured list prior to first pitch, adding to an IL that already included Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Meyers.
J.P. France tossed two scoreless innings in relief, a small bright spot in an otherwise difficult afternoon.
The Astros return home Tuesday to begin a series against the Colorado Rockies at Daikin Park.
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