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Seattle Mariners

Mariners Pregame: Justin Verlander makes debut for Houston, lineups and starters against Astros

Houston Astros’ Justin Verlander reaches to catch a ball while signing autographs before a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017, in Seattle. (John Froschauer / Associated Press)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

Game 139: Seattle Mariners (69-69) against Houston Astros (84-53) in the second of a three-game series at 7:10 p.m. at Safeco Field.

The M’s gave up four in the seventh on Monday and lost to Houston 6-2 in the series opener. On Tuesday, the Mariners task gets no easier when they face Justin Verlander in his debut for the Astros.

Seattle is 4-6 in its last 10 games and is fourth in the A.L. West, 15.5 behind the Astros, who are 7-3 in their last 10. The M’s trail for the second wildcard spot 2.5 games behind Minnesota.

Transactions: OF Jacob Hannemann, acquired in a waiver claim from the Chicago Cubs on Monday, reported to the Mariners and will be in uniform for Tuesday’s game. Also, 1B Daniel Vogelbach was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma. RHP Evan Scribner was placed on waivers for the purpose of granting his unconditional release.

Lineups and starters

Courtesy @MarinersPR
Courtesy @MarinersPR

Starters: LHP Ariel Miranda (8-6, 4.85) vs. RHP Justin Verlander (10-8, 3.82)

Mariners Notes

  • Since Aug.14, Mike Zunino is batting .377 (20 for 53) with four home runs, eight RBIs, a .476 on-base percentage and a .736 slugging mark (1.212 OPS) in his last 17 games.
  • 2B Robinson Canó is one home run shy of reaching 300 home runs for his career. When Canó reaches the 300-home run plateau, he will become the 16th player in MLB history (and join Edgar Martinez) to record a career batting average of .300 or better while collecting at least 1,000 runs, 2,000 hits, 500 doubles, 300 home runs and 1,000 RBIs.
  • 3B Kyle Seager hit his 20th home run of the season Monday off Astros starter Dallas Keuchel. It marks Seager’s sixth straight season with at least 20 home runs, fourth most in club history (Ken Griffey Jr., 9, Edgar Martinez, 8 and Jay Buhner, 8). Seager has recorded 20-plus home runs and 30-plus doubles for the fifth season.

This Day in Mariners History

In 1983, Harold Reynolds made his MLB debut at Kansas City. Reynolds started at second base and went 2 for 3 with a double, triple and two runs.

In 2000, Seattle became the second-fastest team to reach 100 wins by calendar date, after a 12-6 win over Tampa Bay