Astros complete sweep of Mariners

HOUSTON – Too little and not enough.

The Mariners hit four homers, and it wasn’t enough. They turned to their rookie Wunderkind reliever in the late innings of a tie game, and it didn’t work. They mounted a series of comebacks but fell short.

The Mariners’ recent road miseries continued Wednesday night in a 9-8 loss to the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park when Edwin Diaz served up a two-run homer to Luis Valbuena in the eighth inning.

Valbuena broke a 7-all tie when turned around a 96-mph fastball for a 415-foot drive to right field – and it was a no-doubter from the time it left the bat.

“When he hit that ball,” Diaz said, “I didn’t look back. I knew that was out.”

This makes nine straight road losses for the Mariners, who are 2-14 away from home since starting the season on a 19-8 burst. They also failed to pump the brakes sufficiently when facing a sweep.

These three losses marked the sixth time they suffered a sweep, which actually makes it somewhat remarkable that they remain above .500 – if just barely at 43-42.

“I don’t think we played particularly well here,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “They did. For whatever reason, after finishing up strong on (a 7-2) homestand, it just didn’t carry over down here.”

The loss spoiled what had the makings of a stirring comeback.

The Mariners rallied from a 5-0 deficit with a four-run fourth inning that included homers by Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager and Dae-Ho Lee against Houston starter Mike Fiers.

After Nathan Karns gave up two tainted runs when the Mariners made two errors in the sixth, Seth Smith tied the game with a three-run homer in the seventh inning against Michael Feliz.

Even after Valbuena’s homer, the Mariners scored once in the ninth inning and had the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with one out before coming up short.

“They jumped on us pretty good early,” Seager said, “but we fought our way back. Ultimately, it didn’t go our way. We got a couple of big hits. We just needed one more.”

Diaz (0-2) worked a scoreless seventh inning but started the eighth by yielding a leadoff double to Jason Castro.

After Jake Marisnick replaced Castro as a pinch-runner, Diaz struck out George Springer and worked back from a 2-0 hole against Valbuena by getting two swinging strikes on four-seam fastballs.

Valbuena didn’t miss the next one.

“He made a pitch in a bad spot,” Servais said. “He had a couple of strikes on Valbuena but got the ball down and in. We didn’t want to go there. (Valbuena) yanked it. Give him credit. He hit it out of the ballpark.”

Ken Giles (1-3) got the victory for pitching a scoreless eighth inning before Luke Gregerson wobbled through the ninth inning for his 14th save.

Gregerson issued two four-pitch walks with one out, and Cano followed with an RBI double to left. That put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position.

But Gregerson struck out Nelson Cruz and, after an intentional walk to Seager, struck out Lee.

It didn’t start well, either.

Mariners starter Wade LeBlanc suffered more damage in a three-run first inning than in 12 innings combined over his two previous starts.

Problems started with a one-out walk to Valbuena, who went to second on Jose Altuve’s single. Carlos Correa’s double on a ball that hopped the wall down the right-field line scored one run.

LeBlanc had a chance to limit the damage to one run when he struck out Colby Rasmus, but Carlos Gomez pulled a two-run double into the left-field corner.

The Astros pushed the lead to 4-0 when Evan Gattis led off the second inning with a booming homer to left. Houston added an unearned run in the third on Gomez’s two-out triple after an error by shortstop Ketel Marte.

“It was one of those days where nothing is really working,” LeBlanc said. “They weren’t missing anything. You saw for yourself. They didn’t hit anything soft. Our offense showed up. I didn’t do my part.”

Cano started the Mariners’ comeback with a leadoff homer in the fourth inning. Fiers then walked Cruz before Seager unloaded a 414-foot homer to right field for his 17th homer.

Lee followed with another homer. That quickly, the Mariners were back to within 5-4. Fiers had not allowed a homer in his three previous starts.

Mixed bag for M’s

The Mariners received good and bad news for their rotation.

Ace Felix Hernandez pitched a simulated game and will soon leave for a rehabilitation assignment. But his progress came on the same day that the Mariners sent fellow starter Taijuan Walker to the disabled list with a lingering problem with his right foot.

Walker left his start on Tuesday night with tendinitis his right foot. It was the third start Walker exited early with the same problem. Manager Scott Servais said the Mariners aren’t sure exactly what the plan will be for Walker’s recovery, but that he will be visiting a specialist soon.

“What we’re seeing is not good and is probably not in his or our best interest to kind of just keep running him out there,” Servais said.

Walker is 4-7 with a 3.66 ERA in 16 starts this season.

Hernandez, who has been on the disabled list since June 1 with a strained right calf, threw 45 pitches to Shawn O’Malley before Wednesday night’s game.

“It was pretty good to be back and face some hitters,” Hernandez said. “It felt really good.”

He said that he threw all his pitches and was happy that he didn’t feel any discomfort in his calf during the session. He didn’t get many swings, but thought that was good because he was throwing strikes.

Hernandez said he’ll throw about 60 pitches for Class A Everett on Sunday. Servais isn’t sure if his pitch count will be that high.

“His numbers are a little bit bigger than ours,” Servais said. “Sixty might be a little aggressive. But we’ll see. I’d like to get him up and down four times if we can.”

If that goes well, he’ll throw at Triple-A Tacoma on July 15 and return to Seattle’s rotation on July 20.

“I feel strong. I feel really good. I think it’s fresh right now,” Hernandez said of his arm. “I can’t wait to be out there again.”

This is the third time in his career that Hernandez has been on the disabled list and his first stint since 2008. He hates sitting out and has struggled dealing with his layoff.

“I was going crazy when I was at home but now that I’m here and almost ready, I’m happy with it,” he said.

Hernandez is 4-4 with a 2.86 ERA in 10 starts this year.

Also on Wednesday, the Mariners activated catcher Jesus Sucre from the 60-day disabled list and transferred catcher Steve Clevenger to the 60-day disabled list. They also recalled left-hander David Rollins from Triple-A Tacoma and optioned catcher Mike Zunino there.