Morrison homers twice in Mariners’ win

HOUSTON – Who knows what to expect with these Mariners? After getting blanked in the two previous games, and one day after seeing their King fail to survive the first inning, the Mariners struck back Saturday with a five-run first inning and rolled to an 8-1 victory over Houston. Logan Morrison, who had not hit a homer since May 12, hit two in the first three innings. Rookie lefty Mike Montgomery delivered a third straight quality start and, finally, got his first major league victory. The Mariners also, finally, won a game at Minute Maid Park after suffering a four-game sweep in April and Friday’s 10-0 debacle when Felix Hernandez gave up eight runs in one-third of an inning. So, yes, this was badly needed. But… “My club scored eight runs in the first three innings,” manager Lloyd McClendon said, “and then we shut it down the rest of the way. We have got to find our killer instinct. “We’re six games under .500 and I don’t think anybody around here is happy with that. I’ve got to get them going. … It’s time to kick a little butt.” That happened early Saturday when the M’s battered Collin McHugh, who has been something of a nemesis in winning five of seven previous career starts against them. McHugh (6-3) gave up all eight runs while lasting just three innings. But the Mariners managed only four hits over the final six innings against Roberto Hernandez, Chad Qualls and Luke Gregerson. “If we do a better job off of (Hernandez),” Morrison agreed, “we get deeper into their pen. And we wouldn’t have to worry about some guys Sunday. There’s still work to be done.” Morrison’s first homer capped the five-run first inning. His second came in a three-run third. While he recently had a 16-game hitting streak, a career best, Morrison had no homers and just seven RBIs in his previous 28 games. “I was getting lucky (in the hitting streak),” he said. “It felt a little better today, but I still have to be more consistent. The first two (at-bats) were good. I might as well have hung it up after that.” This was the third two-homer game of Morrison’s career, and the five RBIs matched a career best. Montgomery (1-1) limited the Astros to one run and six hits in six innings and lowered his ERA to 1.89 for his three starts since his June 2 recall from Tacoma. If the killer instinct that McClendon wants failed to appear in the later innings, the Mariners could not have scripted a better start after failing to score in their previous 20 innings over three games. The five-run first was Seattle’s biggest inning of the season and more runs than they scored in 15 of their previous 16 games. Morrison’s second homer was 406-foot drive in the third inning.