Sam Gaviglio roughed up in Mariners’ loss to Astros
HOUSTON – If nothing else, the Mariners needed innings Tuesday night from rookie Sam Gaviglio in his return to the big leagues in order to rest an overtaxed bullpen.
Gaviglio delivered six innings but, like the Mariners’ attack, not much else in a 6-2 loss to the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Gaviglio (3-5) gave up five runs and eight hits, including two no-doubt homers to Evan Gattis.
“Sam has to live at the bottom of the strike zone,” manager Scott Servais said. “We’ve seen Sam a little bit sharper. He hung there. We needed to get deep in the game with him.
“We needed to be a little bit patient with him tonight based on where our bullpen was.”
The loss snapped the Mariners’ five-game winning streak and dropped them back under .500 at 47-48. But Gaviglio did help Mariners reset a bullpen that logged 18 1/3 innings over the four previous days.
Gaviglio’s rocky ride aside, the Mariners mustered little against Houston starter Brad Peacock, who improved to 8-1 by permitting just one run and three hits in seven innings.
“He was just mixing it up on us,” center fielder Jarrod Dyson said. “That’s it. He was doing a pretty good job of mixing his fastball with his off-speed, and he was able to keep us off-balance.
“We know it’s going to be a dogfight when we play against that team. That’s a hot team. They’re swinging the bat well. They’re pitching well. We couldn’t get them today.”
Peacock took advantage of umpire Dan Bellino’s liberal strike zone by painting the edges low, and low and away.
“You’ve got to give Peacock credit,” Servais said. “He’s been throwing the ball well, too. But we has been swinging the bats so well, you expect us to go out and throw big numbers up there tonight.
“We just didn’t get much going offensively.”
Luke Gregerson recorded a four-out save after Reymin Guduan yielded an RBI single in the eighth inning to Ben Gamel.
Emilio Pagan replaced Gaviglio to start the seventh and gave up one run in two innings. Pagan was the only reliever who didn’t pitch Monday when the Mariners opened the series with a 9-7 victory in 10 innings.
The Mariners recalled Gaviglio prior to the game from Triple-A Tacoma, where he logged the previous 10 days because there was no need for a fifth starter due to the All-Star break.
Gaviglio started the game by hitting George Springer with a pitch before yielding a single to Jose Altuve, but the costly mistake in the inning was a four-pitch was to Carlos Beltran with one out.
That moved Springer to third, and he scored on a Yuli Gurriel’s sacrifice fly to center for a 1-0 lead.
Gattis’ first homer came on Gaviglio’s first pitch in the second inning – a 433-foot bomb to left.
Houston appeared to score again in the third inning on another Gurriel sacrifice fly, but Dyson threw out Josh Reddick at third before Altuve crossed the plate.
It was a temporary reprieve.
The Astros pushed their lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning on a bunt single by Marwin Gonzalez and RBI doubles by Nori Aoki and Springer.
“I worked from behind,” Gaviglio said, “and they took advantage of it. I need to do a better job early of coming out and being sharp. Throwing strikes and getting ahead of guys.”
The Mariners got one run back in the fifth inning after Kyle Seager led off with a double. He went to third on Danny Valencia’s ground out and scored on Dyson’s infield single.
Dyson stole second and went to third on a throwing error by Peacock, but the Mariners settled for one run when Chooch Ruiz and Guillermo Heredia struck out.
Gattis’ second homer, a two-out drive in the sixth, restored Houston’s four-run lead at 5-1.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Seager saved at least one run in the third inning when he kept the tag applied to Reddick, who tied to advance from second on Gurriel’s one-out fly to center.
Altuve had tagged from third and appeared to score when umpire Adam Hamari ruled Reddick was safe.
The Mariners challenged the call, and replays showed Reddick came off the base while Seager still had the tag applied – and did so before Altuve crossed the plate.
The result was an inning-ending double play and a run that came off the board.
PLUS: Tough to find much beyond the bullpen getting some much-needed rest. Dyson had a single in four at-bats and stole his club-leading 22nd base.
MINUS: Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre was ejected between the second and third innings…Jean Segura went hitless in four at-bats and surrendered the American League batting lead to Altuve, who went 3-for-4 and raised his average to .351. Segura’s average dropped to .344.
STAT PACK: Seager’s double in the fifth inning was the 200th of his career, which ties Harold Reynolds for eighth place on the club’s all-time list. Next up is Dan Wilson with 207. The all-time leader is Edgar Martinez with 514.
QUOTABLE: Gaviglio said he was aware of the bullpen’s need for rest but noted: “Your goal every time is to go deep into the game. Obviously, we’re a little short in the bullpen right now, but that’s what I’m trying to do every time.”
SHORT HOPS: The Astros placed All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa on the disabled list because of a torn ligament in his left thumb. He is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks. Houston replaced Correa on the roster by recalling Colin Moran from Triple-A Fresno…Altuve’s single in the first inning extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
ON DECK: The Mariners and Astros conclude their three-game series at 11:10 a.m. on Wednesday at Minute Maid Park. Left-hander James Paxton (8-3 with a 3.19 ERA) will oppose Houston right-hander Charlie Morton (7-3, 4.06).