The Seattle Mariners aren’t in mandatory win mode yet, but it’s getting closer.
The Mariners (84-72) dropped 1 1/2 games behind Houston (86-71) in the race for the third and final American League playoff spot with a 1-5 loss to the visiting Astros on Monday night.
Seattle, which will host Houston again on Tuesday, has two more games to play against the Astros before ending the regular season with a four-game home series against the Texas Rangers of the Al West, 88-68.
“Right now, it’s really one game at a time,” Mariners Manager Scott Servais said. “We can look no further. We have to win the game (on Tuesday). That’s where we are in our Season.”
The Mariners have lost a total of four consecutive games, losing the last 10 games they have played against teams with winning records.
“We know what matters,” said J. P. Crawford, a short stay in Seattle. “It’s over now. We have to look forward to (Tuesday). We have bigger games ahead of us now. There is nothing we can do about these games, terrible losses. … We have to keep our heads up and look on the positive side to play (on Tuesday).”
The Astros got a vintage performance from Justin Verlander to win the first game of the series on Monday. The 40-year-old right-hander scored a shutout in the ninth inning and eventually allowed one run on three hits with eight strikeouts and a walkthrough over eight-plus innings.
“This is just one of those years where nothing has been easy,” Verlander said, referring to the Astros who were swept by the lowly Kansas City Royals in a three-game series over the weekend to give up the Division lead. “You can find the right moment here and this could be the beginning of something, I hope.”
Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker went deep for the Astros, who snapped Mariners ace Luis Castillo’s eight-game winning streak in a row. Houston remains 2 1/2 games behind Texas in the Division.
Tuesday’s game is expected to include a duel between Houston’s right-hander Cristian Javier (9-4, 4.64ERA) and Seattle’s George Kirby (11-10, 3.58).
Javier has gone 0-2 in his last five starts with a 5.25 era. he didn’t make a decision in the Astros’ 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, although he had only one run with three hits in five innings. He gave up two walks and recorded a season-high 11 strikeouts.
Javier went 3-1 with a 2.45 era in eight career appearances (five starts) against the Mariners. He played well but did not get a decision on May 5 in Seattle in his only meeting with the Mariners this season. Javier went seven innings, allowing three runs on three hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in the Astros’ 6-4 victory.
