The Houston Astros needed something to go right. On Wednesday night at Daikin Park, it came from the bottom of the order.
Zach Cole lined a walk-off single past diving first baseman Josh Naylor in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Astros a 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners, snapping a four-game losing streak and ending a nine-game skid against Seattle dating back to last September. Houston’s record stands at 17-27.
“I’m just glad we got a win,” Cole said after his first walk-off hit in the majors. “It doesn’t matter if it comes from me or anyone else. We just want to get some momentum back.”
Cole came to the plate with Brice Matthews on third base, placed there when Alex Hoppe’s wild pitch moved him up from second, and nobody out. Cole initially squared to bunt before pulling a full-count slider to the right side.
“Don’t need to do too much,” Cole said. “Just need to hopefully get the ball forward somewhere in the air and let the speed of Matthews on third base take over.”
It was the latest contribution from a lower portion of the lineup that carried the Astros on a night when the offense repeatedly squandered opportunities. Houston finished 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14. Braden Shewmake, Matthews, and Cole combined for seven hits from the 6-through-8 spots. Shewmake and Matthews scored three of Houston’s four runs.
Lance McCullers Jr. kept the game close with a determined effort despite allowing two solo home runs—a leadoff shot by J.P. Crawford on the third pitch of the game and a sixth-inning homer by Luke Raley on a backdoor sweeper—comprising all of Seattle’s damage against him. McCullers worked through constant traffic, stranding runners in scoring position in the second, third, and fourth innings, and finished with six strikeouts in 5⅓ innings. A strikeout of Josh Naylor in the third was his 900th career strikeout, making him the fastest pitcher in Astros history to reach that milestone, doing so in his 154th major league appearance.
The Astros tied the game in the sixth on a chaotic sequence that began when home-plate umpire Roberto Ortiz left after being struck by a foul tip off Shewmake’s bat. Ortiz was evaluated for a concussion. The delay came with Bryce Miller at 81 pitches and appeared to disrupt the right-hander’s rhythm, as the right-hander, making his season debut after an oblique strain, allowed three straight singles to load the bases before exiting. Jose Altuve worked a full count against Cooper Criswell and drew a bases-loaded walk to tie it 2-2 before Yordan Alvarez grounded out to strand two more.
Houston took a 3-2 lead in the eighth on Altuve’s sacrifice fly, which scored Matthews and was also his 900th career RBI, making him the fifth Astros player to reach that number.
Bryan King could not hold it in the ninth. Three walks, including one to Julio Rodríguez that forced in the tying run, gave Seattle a 3-3 tie. It was King’s second blown save in his last three appearances.
Bryan Abreu stranded Seattle’s extra-innings runner in the 10th and earned the win.
McCullers acknowledged mixed emotions about reaching the milestone after years of injuries.
“All honesty, it makes me a little sad,” McCullers said. “Like maybe what could have been without the injuries and stuff. But it’s just part of my journey, part of my story.”
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