USATSI_18741101 — Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Astros Sweep Mariners as Altuve, Peña Launch Back-to-Back Homers

The Houston Astros swept the red-hot Seattle Mariners en route to a fifth-consecutive win off the All-Star break.

Author:
Kenny Van Doren
Publish date:
Jul 24, 2022 7:38 PM EDT

In this story:

Even with the best hitter in the American League on the bench, the Houston Astros' offense jumped all over the Seattle Mariners for a series sweep. Yordan Álvarez — who was reinstated from the injured list Thursday — took Sunday off, resting a sore right hand.

José Altuve kickstarted the offense with a first-pitch home run off Robbie Ray, marking his ninth leadoff home run of the season which ranks first in Major League Baseball. It also stands as Altuve's 30th leadoff home run on his career, third-best in Astros history behind Craig Biggio (53) and George Springer (39).

Jeremy Peña followed with his own solo shot six pitches later to give the Astros a 2-0 lead. The offense didn't stop there as Mauricio Dubón roped an RBI-double after Aledmys Díaz and Chas McCormick slapped back-to-back singles to open the second inning.

With McCormick at third and Dubón at second, Martín Maldonado singled home McCormick and put runners at the corners. Altuve drove Dubón home a batter later to put Houston up by five after two innings.

The Astros knocked the 2021 American League Cy Young winner out after three innings of work, plating 10 hits in their first 15 trips to the dish and only striking out once. Before Ray was given the hook after the third inning, McCormick grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Yuli Gurriel from third base.

Maldonado added two insurance runs in the eighth inning. The ninth hitter blooped a single into center field, scoring Díaz and McCormick with two outs to tally eight runs for Houston on the day.

Houston Astros Starting Pitcher Framber Valdez
Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

In his first appearance since winning the All-Star Game, Framber Valdez continued his impressive run of quality starts. Sunday marked the lefty's 16th-straight quality start, second-best in franchise history behind Mike Scott's 20 in 1986. The lefty is also the first Dominican-born player to do so while also leading all of MLB with 17 on the year.

Valdez worked 6 2/3 innings on 102 pitches while yielding three runs on eight hits and one walk. Taking a scoreless outing into the seventh, the lefty surrendered back-to-back RBI knocks that scored three runs for the Mariners.

Seth Martinez entered with a runner on second but escaped the frame on an eight-pitch strikeout to Ty France. The righty recorded only one more out before surrendering an eighth-inning, two-run home run to Abraham Toro — the switch-hitter's fourth against the Houston since he was traded to Seattle last July.

Former Mariner Rafael Montero relieved Martinez with a Carlos Santana on first. Montero caught Dylan Moore with a four-seamer but recorded two outs to hold a three-run lead into the ninth inning.

Fresh off the paternity list, Ryan Pressly closed the door for his 20th save of the season. Since his June 23 blown save against the New York Yankees, the righty has retired 30-straight batters, the new franchise record which passed Dave Giusti (27).

The Astros improve their AL West lead to 13 games, before opening a three-game set with the A's at 8:40 p.m. Monday in Oakland. Jake Odorizzi will battle righty Adam Oller in his second start against the A's in 10 days.