Astros give Mariners the slip

SEATTLE – On a night when the Mariners, out of necessity, trolled through much of their bullpen, the game turned on a slip-and-slide tumble by right fielder Brad Miller with the game tied in the seventh inning. The season should have ended Wednesday for the Mariners in this 7-6 loss to the Houston Astros at Safeco Field. This was a perfect metaphor for a season that saw spring hopes fade slowly into harsh disappointment. It was 6-all with one out in the seventh when Evan Gattis sent a fly to right field. It should either be caught or, maybe, fall for a single. But Miller lost his footing as he charged toward the ball. The result was a triple. (Miller overthrew the relay man, but Gattis would likely have reached third in any event.) After Jonathan Villar replaced Gattis as a pinch-runner, the Mariners shortened their infield – which meant Colby Rasmus’ soft bloop against Danny Farquhar (1-7) landed beyond a retreating Ketel Marte from short. There was more, of course, including a brutal outing by reliever JC Ramirez after he inherited a 6-3 lead in the sixth inning. Also, credit the Astros, fighting to reach postseason as part of a remarkable turnaround, for overcoming deficits of 2-0 and 6-3. They lead the Los Angeles Angels by one-half game for the final wild-card berth. Tony Sipp (3-4) got the victory when Luke Gregerson pitched a scoreless ninth for his 31st save. For the Mariners, this was the seventh loss in eight games in a season that concludes this weekend with three required games against Oakland’s even more disappointing Athletics. Let’s reset: The M’s had just surrendered a 2-0 lead when Houston scored three runs in the fifth when they muscled up a four-run answer. One-out singles by Jesus Sucre and Ketel Marte put runners at first and third before Kyle Seager jumped a high slider from Houston starter Scott Kazmir for a 409-foot homer to right-center field. The Mariners led 5-3. Nelson Cruz followed with a similar drive to right-center for his 44th homer of the season. The Mariners turned to Ramirez with a 6-3 lead in the sixth. First, Ramirez failed to handle a bunt by Carlos Gomez, which turned into single. Next, Ramirez ignored Gomez, who stole second without throw. Then came a walk to Luis Valbuena. Finally, Ramirez jumped ahead 0-2 on Chris Carter before putting a slider on a tee. Carter drove it 418 feet to left for a game-tying homer. That was it for Ramirez.