Mariners silence Houston bats again for 1-0 victory

SEATTLE (AP) — Rookie right-hander Logan Gilbert and four relievers combined to shut out Houston for the second straight day and J.P. Crawford scored the lone run on a sacrifice fly to give the Seattle Mariners a 1-0 win over the Astros on Wednesday.

Seattle took two of three in the series from the AL West leaders, and if not for a late collapse in the opener, it may have come away with a sweep. The Mariners are still 6 ½ back of Houston in the AL West but continue to hang around in the wild-card race.

The Mariners received exceptional pitching for a second straight day along with a couple of defensive gems to make up for a lack of offense. Seattle managed just three hits off Houston starter Jake Odorizzi (6-7) and four relievers, but it proved to be enough.

Crawford scored on Abraham Toro’s sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. Toro hit a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning to give Seattle a 4-0 win on Tuesday night. He came up again with the bases loaded on Wednesday and settled for a sacrifice fly.

Gilbert threw five innings before turning to Seattle’s bullpen. Justus Sheffield (6-8) made his first relief appearance in more than two years, allowing one hit. Casey Sadler pitched the seventh, but Houston threatened with Jose Altuve’s walk and Michael Brantley’s single with two outs in the eighth off Drew Steckenrider.

Paul Sewald struck out Carlos Correa to end the eighth inning for the second straight game with Altuve at second base. Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman singled with one out in the ninth off Sewald, but Kyle Tucker popped out and Jake Meyers struck out looking for Sewald's eight save.

Gilbert lasted only five innings due to a high pitch count. He got a huge defensive play from Crawford in the third inning, making a lunging backhanded stop of a shot by...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Mariners-silence-Houston-bats-again-for-1-0-16429476.php