With runners on first and second base in the bottom of the third inning on Friday, Dave Sims sat in a familiar spot. 

Kyle Lewis hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning to lift the Seattle Mariners over the Houston Astros 7-6 on Sunday, snapping a 15-game losing streak in the series.

It’s over. The Mariners found a way to win at Minute Maid Park.

Lance McCullers Jr. was solid in his return from Tommy John surgery, Yuli Gurriel and George Springer homered and the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners for the 15th straight time, 7-2 on Saturday.

It seems the Mariners have come up with a new slogan for this pandemic-shortened season: 60 games, one goal.

Dusty Baker posted a win in his debut as Houston's manager and the Astros, playing for the first time since their sign-stealing scandal rocked baseball, opened the season by beating the Seattle Mariners 8-2 Friday night.

It was far from the normal opening day, lacking all of the pomp and circumstance, but the Seattle Mariners kicked off their 2020 season against the defending A.L. champion Houston Astros in an empty Minute Maid Park, devoid of fans, trash can banging staffers, or even the zombie-like cardboard cutouts behind home plate we've seen in other venues in the 60-game sprint that is the pandemic version of Major League Baseball.

I have to admit, I feel uneasy about the return of baseball – and even writing about it – while positive COVID-19 cases across the country are rising at an exponential rate.

Don’t take me out to the ball game.

Baseball purists will tell you fantasy baseball dates back to the 1980s, when Rotisserie became all the rage. They are wrong.

The Seattle Mariners finally get to open their delayed, 60-game season Friday night at Minute Maid Park against the defending American League-champion Houston Astros.