Mariners beat Astros for 7th straight time
Published 9:30 am Tuesday, May 12, 2026
The Astros lost their third straight, this time falling 3-1 to the Mariners on Monday, to drop even with the Los Angeles Angels for the worst record in the American League. The loss also drops the Astros (16-26) to 10 games below .500, the first time they’ve sunk to those depths since May 2024.
The Astros outhit the Mariners 9-7, but none of the knocks by the home team went for extra bases and only one came with a runner in scoring position.
The lack of offense spoiled another good start from Peter Lambert, who gave up three runs over seven innings.
“I think everybody knows that it’s in division, but in terms of putting more emphasis, not really,” Lambert said of the Astros’ homestand. “I think everybody personally knows, obviously, this season hasn’t gone exactly the way we wanted it to, and we’re working really hard to change that.”
The bottom of the Mariners’ order got to Lambert early. With one out in the second, Randy Arozarena and Luke Raley reached base with a single and a walk, respectively. After J.P. Crawford lined out, the Mariners’ Nos. 8 and 9 hitters delivered back-to-back RBI singles. Dominic Canzone ripped a single to left that started the scoring before Cole Young delivered a run-scoring single to right.
Seattle didn’t have to work nearly as hard for its run in the third when Julio Rodriguez blasted a fastball 414 feet off the Astros Community Leaders sign just below the Daikin Park train tracks in left to give his team a 3-0 lead.
The Astros offense struggled with the timely hit, leaving at least one runner on base in every inning except the seventh.
They finally came through in the fifth when Isaac Paredes stepped to the plate with runners on the corners and delivered a base hit to left that drove in a run.
Mariners starter George Kirby has been excellent against the Astros in his five-year big league career, lowering his ERA against his AL West rivals to 2.14 in 11 career starts against them. However, the Astros hitters were patient against him, pushing his pitch count so high that he lasted just five innings, having thrown 94 pitches.
“We got him against the ropes, we just couldn’t land the knockout punch,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “We couldn’t get that big hit, but our at-bats against him were really good.”
The Astros have reigned in the AL West for a long time, winning seven of eight division titles before the Mariners won their first division crown in 24 years last season. Seattle certainly has the Astros’ number at the moment. The Mariners have now won eight straight against Houston, including a sweep at Daikin Park late last season that clinched the division for the Mariners and a four-game sweep in April in Seattle. The Mariners have won the season series against the Astros three straight seasons and currently are up 5-0 with eight head-to-head matchups remaining this year.
