Mariners offense breaks out to beat Astros, snap losing streak

SEATTLE – Randy Arozarena wasn’t going to leave the batter’s box. Nope, he was savoring a moment that has been lacking for the Mariners of late.

In a pose made for a statue artist, Arozarena held his follow-through with his bat – yes, unbroken – remaining pointed high in the air in triumph.

He didn’t move from that position until his towering blast finally touched down in the upper deck of left-center, sending the T-Mobile Park crowd of 44,468 into pandemonium, celebrating hits, runs and offense as if they’d waited an eternity for that moment. It provided a release of pressure and tension that had building from an awful 1-5 road trip.

That celebration would continue for the rest of Friday evening as the Mariners took advantage of the Astros’ pitching woes for a 9-6 victory in the opener of the four-game series.

Seattle snapped its five-game losing streak while showing some life offensively.

Something had to give in this game with the worst offense in MLB squaring off against one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball.

The Mariners came into the series having scored a total of three runs in their last three games while posting a .184 batting average /.280 on-base percentage/.301 slugging percentage this season, all of which were the lowest of the 30 MLB teams.

Meanwhile, the Astros rolled into Seattle with a beat-up pitching staff that held a 6.05 ERA, having issued 70 walks with six hit batters and giving up 20 homers. They just placed Cristian Javier, the third member of their projected starting rotation, on injured list, after he pitched just one inning on Wednesday. They were planning to use a bullpen starter at least once in the four-game series.

Knowing that Astros starter Tatsuya Imai didn’t throw many strikes and had walked seven batters in 81/3 innings pitched this season, the Mariners showed plenty of patience.

Imai walked J.P. Crawford and Cal Raleigh. Julio Rodriguez loaded the bases with an infield single. Crawford gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead, racing home on a wild pitch with Josh Naylor at the plate. Naylor would walk to reload the bases for Arozarena. Imai hit Arozarena with a slider that forced another run across for a 2-0 lead. The Mariners picked up another run on Luke Raley’s groundout to second. When Cole Young worked a walk off Imai, it loaded the bases again and ended Imai’s outing. He faced seven batters, walking four and hitting one while throwing 37 pitches. The Mariners had scored three runs with a ball not leaving the infield.

Seattle failed to break the game open in that pitch-filled first inning. Lefty Steven Okert replaced Imai and struck out Dom Canzone and got Leo Rivas to pop out to end the inning.

Would the inability to capitalize more hurt the Mariners?

It sure seemed like it might when starter Emerson Hancock loaded the bases in the second and gave up a bases-clearing double to No. 9 hitter Christian Vazquez on a 2-2 fastball.

When the Mariners went scoreless through the next three innings despite multiple baserunners, an uncomfortable tension was starting to build.

But Arozarena’s blast and bat toss off reliever Ryan Weiss provided some necessary relief.

Seattle tacked on four more runs in the seventh, highlighted by Canzone’s RBI double to the gap in right-center and J.P. Crawford’s single up the middle.

The runs proved needed for the Mariners when longtime nemesis Yordan Alvarez clubbed a three-run homer in the eighth inning of Cole Wilcox to cut the lead to 9-6. Matt Brash cleaned up the inherited mess in the eighth, getting an inning-ending double play.

Meanwhile, Andres Muñoz, pitching in his first save situation this season, closed the game out with a scoreless ninth that wasn’t without drama. With two outs, Muñoz walked Joey Loperfido and Taylor Trammell to bring All-Star shortstop and leadoff hitter Jeremy Pena to the plate.

Anderson dazzles in Double-A

All along, the expectation has been that Mariners pitching prospect Kade Anderson wouldn’t need a whole lot of seasoning in the minor leagues.

Through his first two professional starts, the touted left-handed pitcher appears right on (the fast) track.

Anderson, 21, didn’t allow a hit over five scoreless innings Friday night for the Arkansas Travelers, the Mariners’ Double-A affiliate, earning his first pro victory in a 5-0 win over the Wichita Wind Surge in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

Anderson struck out 11 of the first 14 batters he faced, and the only two baserunners he allowed came via walks. He threw 70 pitches, 48 for strikes, with 14 swings-and-misses.

His fastball topped out at 95 mph.

A week ago, Anderson had six strikeouts and one walk over four shutout innings in his pro debut. His total through two starts: nine innings, no runs, five hits, 17 strikeouts and three walks.

The Mariners selected Anderson with the No. 3 overall pick in last summer’s MLB draft. He led LSU to the national championship, earning College World Series Most Outstanding Player.

He was also named Baseball America Pitcher of the Year after leading the NCAA in strikeouts with 180 over 119 innings.

Donovan out of lineup

Battling an illness, Mariners leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan was out of the lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Houston Astros.

M’s manager Dan Wilson described Donovan as “a little bit under the weather” Friday afternoon.

Donovan was not seen in the dugout during Friday night’s game.

Wilson did not sound concerned that the illness was affecting anyone else in the Mariners clubhouse.

“I think the off day (Thursday) probably helped him in some ways, but it’s not going around the clubhouse at this point,” Wilson said.

Donovan has been a rare bright spot for the Mariners lineup through the first two weeks. In 11 games, he has a .316/.422/.605 slash line (1.027 OPS) with a 213 OPS+, all team highs.