Kritik und Lob » 2.93 ERA in 17 starts.Mariners: LHP James P

SEATTLE -- Mariners manager Scott Servais was blunt in his assessment of his teams performance in a lopsided series-ending loss to Houston, the team directly ahead of them in the A.L. West.Seattle committed four errors, walked four, and left 10 runners on, including leaving the bases-loaded in the first and third inning, en route to an 8-1 loss to the Astros on Sunday.Thats the worst game weve played all year, Servais said. Messed up six or seven plays in the field today. We played a terrible ball game. Theres no way you can sugarcoat that.Jose Altuve homered among his four hits and drove in three runs and Collin McHugh escaped a pair of bases-loaded jams to pitch six scoreless innings to drop the third-place Mariners four games behind Houston.Altuve had a two-run homer and three singles in five at-bats to raise his American League-leading average to .346. McHugh (6-6) allowed four hits and walked four, striking out 10 to win for the first time in eight starts since his last victory on May 30.Carlos Gomez added his second career grand slam in the seventh inning off Nathan Karns to put the Astros up 8-0.Kyle Seager singled home Seattles only run in the eighth off Chris Devenski.Mike Montgomery (3-4), making his second start this season after 30 relief appearances, allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings, walking two and striking out seven.Altuve had the green light on a 3-0 pitch in the third and delivered his 15th homer to follow Marwin Gonzalezs leadoff double, putting Houston up 3-0.Altuves a good hitter, and he had some good swings on me today, Montgomery said. I didnt do a good job. Hes 3-0, hes going to swing. I gave him a pitch to hit. In that situation, its okay to put him on base there, and I kind of made a mistake there and it cost me.The Astros made it 4-0 in the fifth when Gonzalez again doubled to open the inning, took third on a throwing error by center fielder Leonys Martin, and scored on Altuves single to left.The Astros hustled across an unearned run in the first. Gonzalez reached on a fielders choice and Altuve singled. Gonzalez stole third and continued around on an error by third baseman Seager, who misplayed the throw from catcher Jesus Sucre.McHugh escaped a pair of bases-loaded situations without allowing a run.In the first, Seagers one-out drive to right with the bases loaded barely hooked foul. Seager then struck out and Dae-Ho Lee bounced back to the mound.The first jam we were in, Seagers balls a couple feet foul, otherwise its a completely different game, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. Fun win to say the least, but a unique way to do it.In the third, the Mariners loaded the bases with no outs on a walk to Martin, a pop single by Robinson Cano on an overturned call and Nelson Cruzs single to the base of the wall in right-center. McHugh struck out Seager and then enticed Lee into an inning-ending double-play bouncer to second.It was a long run for (center fielder Carlos) Gomez to get to that ball, Servais said. Its certainly a play where the ball hits of the wall you should score on.Seattle has lost six of its last seven against Houston and scored just five runs in losing two of three in this series. The Mariners failed to capitalize on seven walks by Houston pitchers on Sunday and hit into five double plays.Our offense needed to get it going today and get us back in the game. Unfortunately it didnt happen, Servais said. We had guys on base. ... We had (McHugh) on the ropes a couple times early, and just couldnt push anything across.ALTUVE MISSES FIFTH HITAltuve, who struck out in his final at-bat, has 17 four-hit games in his career, but never a five-hit game. The elusive fifth hit is hard for him, Hinch said, Its a funny thing to say, because the first four arent very easy for anybody but Altuve.TRAINERS ROOM:Astros: SS Correa was hit by a pitch in the seventh. He stayed in the game, but was replaced by a pinch-hitter A.J Reed in the eighth. Correas fine. I took him out because I wanted Reed to get an at-bat and steal a couple innings of rest for him, Hinch said.Mariners: SS Ketel Marte and OF Nelson Cruz both returned to the lineup after missing Saturdays game. Marte injured his ankle Friday night and Cruz fouled a ball off the top of his left foot.UP NEXTAstros: RHP Mike Fiers (6-3, 4.35 ERA) opens the three-game series at Oakland. Fiers allowed four earned in runs in 3 1/3 innings with a no-decision in his last start prior to the All-Star break, but he has not lost in seven starts since May 27.Mariners: LHP Wade LeBlanc (1-0, 3.52 ERA) makes his fourth start since being acquired in a trade with Toronto to open the three-game series against the White Sox at Safeco Field. He pitched six innings in each of his first two starts, but allowed five runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings in his last start, a no-decision against the Astros. Stitched Blues Jerseys . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. Fake Blues Jerseys . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. https://www.cheapblues.com/ . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. St.Louis Blues Gear . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. Wholesale Blues Jerseys . The 17-year-old native of Marystown, N.L., pulled out of Skate Canada International last month in Saint John, N.B., with the same problem. SEATTLE -- Seattle ace Felix Hernandez couldnt pick a better time to be regaining his form.Hernandez pitched eight strong innings and Mike Zunino homered and drove in three runs to lift the Mariners to an 8-2 victory over Milwaukee on Saturday night, handing the Brewers their sixth straight loss.Im getting better every time out, said Hernandez, who missed almost two months with a strained right calf. The first two innings, not that loose, and then after that everything clicked. Good fastball, good changeup, good curveball.Hernandez (8-4) gave up two runs and seven hits, striking out eight and walking one to improve to 4-0 with a 3.80 ERA in seven starts since coming off the disabled list on July 20. Steve Cishek, who had lost his closers role, pitched a perfect ninth.Hes rounding into Felix form, no doubt, Mariners manager Scott Servais said. Hes having fun. Hes healthy. He feels good about where hes at. Hes got some bullets left in his arm, having been out as long as he has. Hes still fresh.Seattle, which has won eight straight homes games and 12 of its last 15 overall, pulled one game behind Baltimore for the American Leagues second wild card.Zunino and Leonys Martin hit back to back homers off Wily Peralta (5-9) to open the bottom of the seventh, stretching Seattles lead to 4-0. Peralta was making his third start since being recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs.When you face a guy like King Felix, your teams not going to give up, said Peralta, demoted in June after being the Brewers opening day starter. Not many runs, overall, until the last two home runs in the seventh, so I think I was throwing OK.The Brewers broke through against Hernandez in the eighth on an RBI double by Ryan Braun and a run-scoring single by Hernan Perez.The Mariners then added four runs in the bottom of the inning, capped by Zuninos two-run double to right-center.I just knew I had to be patient throughout the night and Id get a couple pitches I could hit, said Zunino, who was not called up from Triple-A until late July. Its just nice to be in a couple of those situations late in the game with runners on.Martin manufactured a run in the third to put Seattle up 1-0. He walked, stole second, moved to third on Ketel Martes ground out and came home on Norichika Aokis single to left.Aoki drove in the Mariners second run in the fifth, slapping an opposite-field double to left to score Marte from first.The Mariners doubled their lead in the seventh when Zunino opened with his eighth homer and Martin followed with his 14th.I think they weere bad pitches, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.dddddddddddd Tired? I thought the first two hitters, I thought hed be good for sure for the first two hitters. I wanted Blaine (Boyer) ready for Marte, but unfortunately the first two hitters homered.Hernandez pitched out of trouble several times earlier, stranding a runner at third in the first, and runners at second in the second and sixth.His last two starts, hes just getting stronger and stronger, catcher Zunino said. Hes finding his rhythm, his commands great, hes doing a great job throwing the ball inside to both lefties and righties and thats opening everything up. And, his change-ups getting very close to what it was.AOKI HOTThe veteran outfielder, who was sent to Triple-A Tacoma for 16 games in July, has hit safely in 11 of his last 15 games, including three three-hit games. He is hitting .358 over that stretch with five doubles, three RBI and hit by pitches twice. I think I made pretty good pitches to him. But he just still found the barrel, put it in play, Peralta said. The first hit he got was on a very good pitch. The second one I missed a little bit. The third one was a fastball up, for some reason he just put the barrel on it. Hes pretty hot right now.TRAINERS ROOMBrewers: RHP Junior Guerra, on the 15-day DL (right elbow inflammation) reported no problems after a bullpen session on Friday and now will pitch in a simulated game. The next step for him will be Monday, hell face hitters ... basically pitch two innings, manager Craig Counsell said. Guerra, a 31-year-old rookie, has been a surprise with a 7-3 record and 2.93 ERA in 17 starts.Mariners: LHP James Paxton, on the 15-day DL with a bruised left elbow after being hit by a line drive, made a short rehab start Saturday at Triple-A Tacoma. In a 53-pitch outing, Paxton allowed two hits with one walk and three strikeouts in three scoreless innings. He could return to the rotation next Thursday.UP NEXTBrewers: RHP Matt Garza (4-5, 4.87 ERA), makes his first start against the Mariners since 2010, when he was with Tampa Bay. Garza opened the season on the DL and is making his 13th start since being activated in mid-June. He is 3-1 in his last four starts.Mariners: Rookie LHP Ariel Miranda (1-0, 5.79) makes his third start for Seattle since being acquired from Baltimore for Wade Miley. He allowed three runs on three hits on five innings in his last start, a no-decision. ' ' '