Emerson Hancock matched his career high by working seven innings, and the Seattle Mariners rode a four-run second inning to a 10-5 victory over the host Houston Astros on Saturday.
Hancock (7-7) snapped a three-start losing skid while logging seven innings for the fifth time in his career. He surrendered two runs on five hits and two walks with eight strikeouts, throwing 97 pitches.
The Mariners erased a 1-0 deficit in the top of the second when Julio Rodriguez, Josh Naylor and Cole Young stroked successive singles off Astros right-hander Hayden Wesneski (2-1) to open the frame. Young plated Rodriguez with an infield single that handcuffed Wesneski, tying the score at 1-1. Two batters later, Victor Robles delivered a two-run triple to right-center field.
Brendan Donovan (3-for-5 with three RBIs) recorded the first of his three RBIs singles to plate Robles and extend the lead to 4-1. Donovan added a run-scoring single in the fourth that plated Young and essentially closed the book on Wesneski, who surrendered five runs on seven hits and one walk with six strikeouts over four innings, marking his shortest outing of the season.
Hancock allowed four consecutive batters to reach with one out in the bottom of the first inning. Jose Altuve plated Yordan Alvarez with an infield single, giving Houston a 1-0 lead, but Hancock limited the damage with consecutive strikeouts of Christian Walker and Taylor Trammell.
Christian Vazquez popped his sixth home run with one out in the second to slice the Mariners’ lead to 4-2, but Hancock immediately settled down. He retired the final two batters of the inning, negated Isaac Paredes’ leadoff single in the third by inducing an inning-ending double play from Altuve, and then retired the Astros in order in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Trammell walked with one out in the seventh, snapping a stretch of 12 consecutive batters retired by Hancock, who initiated a caught stealing of Trammell to conclude the frame.
Young (3-for-5, four RBIs) smacked his 15th homer in the ninth, a three-run shot off Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco to cap off Seattle’s 15-hit outburst.
Paredes (3-for-4, two RBIs) slugged his 16th homer in the eighth.
