Seattle

Mariners

Crawford led off the first inning for the Mariners with a solo homer off Framber Valdez. He reached base three more times in the game via walk. The 28-year-old shortstop is hitting .264/.380/.434 with 18 homers, 92 runs scored, 59 RBI, and two steals across 622 plate appearances.

Miller got through three scoreless innings against the Astros before giving up a solo homer to Yordan Alvarez to lead off the fourth. With two more runners on in the frame, Mauricio Dubon homered off Miller to drive in three more runs. Miller would complete the fourth inning and be done for the day, ending his regular season with a 4.32 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and a 119/26 K/BB ratio across 131 1/3 innings.

France singled in the third inning then came around to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Julio Rodriguez. He then capped off the Mariners’ offense in the ballgame with a 404-foot solo shot off of Ryne Stanek in the eighth inning. With his two-hit attack, he’s hitting .251/.336/.365 with 11 homers and 57 RBI on the season.

The versatile 29-year-old started a rally with a one-out single in the fifth inning then swiped second base and scored on a throwing error by Kyle Tucker. On the season, he’s hitting an underwhelming .243/.303/.329 with three homers, 38 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 337 plate appearances.

The 25-year-old right-hander struck out four batters on the evening. The only scoring threat against him came in the opening inning, as the Astros issued an intentional walk to Kyle Tucker with one out to load the bases. Kirby then got Jose Abreu to ground into a fielder’s choice to force Jose Altuve at home before retiring Yainer Diaz on a ground ball to shortstop to end the threat. He was brilliant the rest of the night. Kirby generated 10 swings and misses on 84 pitches on the night — five each on his slider and fastball — while posting a CSW of 24 percent. Kirby now holds a 12-10 record, 3.46 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a 165/19 K/BB ratio over 184 2/3 innings in 30 starts on the season. He’s lined up to take on the Rangers on the final day of the regular season on Sunday afternoon.

The star right-hander piled up eight strikeouts on the night while issuing just one free pass. The Astros utilized three consecutive two-out, run-scoring hits in the second inning to take an early 3-0 edge. They then tacked on solo shots by Yordan Alvarez in the third inning and Kyle Tucker in the sixth. Castillo got 13 swings and misses on 92 pitches on the night, registering a CSW of 37 percent. Now 14-8 on the season, he’ll carry a 3.20 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a 215/51 K/BB ratio into his final start of the regular season on Saturday against the Rangers.

Ouch. Woo came into the day having pitched scoreless ball in back-to-back starts. He had given up a total of six homers in 16 starts, though three of those did come in one outing three weeks ago. The Rangers pretty much destroyed him today, even though his velocity was good. He’ll face them again on Friday, but at least that one will be at Safeco, making him a decent play in mixed leagues.

As a team, the Mariners scratched out just six hits in the contest — with France the only member of their offense to tally more than one. Both of his hits were singles and the M’s were never able to cash him — or anyone else — in during the game. With his two-hit night, the 29-year-old first baseman is slashing .249/.336/.358 with 10 homers and 56 RBI in 634 plate appearances. With the loss, the Mariners now sit a half game out of the Wild Card race — looking up at the Astros.

The right-hander struggled a bit with his command in this one, issuing four walks while striking out two. The damage done against him came on run-scoring singles by Mitch Garver in the second inning and Jonah Heim in the fourth. Gilbert generated 13 swings and misses on 94 pitches on the night, registering a CSW of just 21 percent. He’ll carry a 3.75 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and a 184/36 K/BB ratio (184 2/3 innings) into his final start of the regular season on Thursday against these same Rangers in Seattle.

He’ll take a seat with left-hander Jordan Montgomery toeing the slab for the Rangers. Since joining the Mariners, Rojas has hit .262/.321/.379 with three homers, 12 RBI and five stolen bases across his 112 plate appearances. Jose Caballero will man second base for the Mariners and will bat ninth on Saturday evening in Arlington.