Mariners turn early struggles around with huge four-game sweep of Astros

SEATTLE – The once-bullied are now the bullies.

After usurping the Astros’ reign atop the American League West late last season in Houston, sweeping the perennial divisional winner in front of their own fans in three games at Daikin Park, the Mariners validated their expected dominance over their longtime nemesis over the past four days at T-Mobile Park.

With a decisive 6-2 victory on an overcast Monday afternoon, the Mariners completed a sweep of the Astros in the rare four-game series, helping alleviate some of the consternation from an awful six-game road trip where they lost the final five games.

The Mariners are starting to finally play like the team that most people had deemed as the favorite to win the division and possibly do more.

“We had a tough stretch last week, but we really have put things together here this week,” manager Dan Wilson said. “It feels good to get these four. The key now is to continue to build on this confidence and this momentum. No series is easy. But particularly four-game series are tough.”

With the shift in the MLB schedule before the 2023 season, expanding interleague play and reducing the number of division games, the instances of a four-game series were greatly reduced. Beating the same team in four consecutive games is that much more difficult and rare than winning all three games in a normal series.

Winning all the games in a four-game series has been dubbed a “mop” by baseball social media mavens “Cespedes Family BBQ” since it is more defining than a sweep. You know the idiom, “mopping the floor” with them? There were no Mariners fans carrying mops in the crowd of 18,648. But it was a fitting metaphor for the series between two teams going in very opposite directions.

It’s just the second time in franchise history the Mariners have swept the Astros in a four-game series. The previous sweep happened Aug. 9-12, 2018.

The Mariners largely dominated the series, taking advantage of a beat-up and beleaguered Astros pitching staff over the four games. With their season-high 13 hits on Sunday, the Mariners racked up 37 hits over the four games while scoring 29 runs. They worked 27 walks and struck out only 28 times. Their on-base percentage was over the four games was .422

Seattle (8-9) will venture out for a quick three-game road trip, starting Tuesday to face their “natural” rivals – the San Diego Padres – at Petco Park.

George Kirby gave the Mariners yet another quality start, pitching 72/3 innings and allowing just two runs to improve to 2-2, while Josh Naylor provided the bulk of the offense, smashing a pair of a homers – a three-run blast in the first inning and a mammoth two-run shot in the third – off Houston starter Mike Burrows.

Naylor came into the game batting .102 (6-for-59) with no extra base hits, six walks and 11 strikeouts. He had put 18 balls into play with exit velocities higher than 95 mph, none of which registered as hits.

But that changed when Astros starter Mike Burrows left an 0-1 fastball in the middle of the plate to Naylor in the first inning. With Cal Raleigh (single)on third and Julio Rodriguez (double) on second, Naylor hit a topspin line drive – 102 mph exit velocity – to right field that just got over the top of the wall for a three-run homer.

Naylor stepped to the plate in the third inning with one out and Raleigh on first having hustled out an infield single. Burrows fired a first-pitch fastball down the middle that Naylor ambushed, turning it into a baseball-sized comet that sailed out over the wall in deep right-center. The ball had a 112-mph exit velocity and traveled 422 feet.

“It’s a process and it’s a long season,” Naylor said. “I always say to the guys that you’d rather start slow and end good than start good and end slow. I just try to put in the work every day, regardless of the results. I try not to focus on results and just play the game hard, and I think results will come eventually.”

He never wavered from that belief.

“It does suck to suck, really,” he said. ” But if you’re putting in the work every day, if you’re focused on your goals, if you’re focused on your plan and your pregame work, everything is going to work out eventually.”

The same could be said for his teammates who struggled to hit on the road trip and came into the home stand with one of the worst offenses in baseball. That changed against Houston.

“We took a lot of great at-bats through the lineup, like one through nine.

He said, “Everyone had great at bats, and it was awesome to see.”

Given an early lead, Kirby worked the first four innings scoreless, allowing just three singles while never allowing a runner to reach in second. In the fifth inning, he gave up a leadoff single to Cam Smith and another single to former teammate Taylor Trammell to put himself in trouble. Yainier Diaz followed with another single to score Smith. Kirby got Nick Allen to hit into a double play, allowing another run to score. But he would end the inning with Jose Altuve lining out.

The Mariners answered the brief outburst from Houston with Luke Raley’s RBI single to right field. It was his third hit of the game and his second straight game with three hits.

“That was a huge run for us,” Wilson said.

Unfazed by giving up the two runs, Kirby retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh. He started the eighth, but couldn’t finish it.

With two outs and Joey Loperfido on second, Wilson appeared from the dugout. It seemed like Kirby’s outing would be done with Yordan Alvarez at the plate and his pitch count at 95. But with J.P. Crawford screaming at Wilson to leave Kirby in, the manager gave his starter a chance to finish the inning.

“Those are really difficult decisions,” Wilson said. “You got Alvarez, who swung the bat well in this series, and a guy who’s really thrown the ball extremely well all day long. And you’ve got two guys (Matt Brash and Gabe Speier) ready in the bullpen. It’s a tough situation there, but I think George really wanted him and you’re in a situation there where you can let George go and let it all hang out.”

Kirby couldn’t finish Alvarez, walking him on four straight pitches and forcing Wilson to go to the bullpen.

“I wanted to strike him out on three pitches, hopefully” Kirby said. “I knew he was probably gonna be swinging there, and I trying to get ahead. It was just one of those weird situations where you just can’t throw a strike.”

Kirby left to a standing ovation. He also relished the opportunity and faith from Wilson.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “Dan’s the best, and he believes in us. Sometimes you just gotta vocalize that and he’ll let you go out. We all want to go out there, keep throwing as long as we can, so when we get the chance to do it, it feels good. It’s a good confidence booster, even for the next game in those situations.”

Brash came in and closed out the inning, getting Isaak Paredes to line out to left field.