Cal Raleigh homered for the first time in two weeks and Bryan Woo produced a rare quality start on the road as the visiting Seattle Mariners held on for a 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Raleigh delivered the deciding blast in the top of the sixth inning when he popped a solo homer with two outs off Astros reliever Bennett Sousa, extending the Mariners’ lead to 3-1. It marked just the second hit for Raleigh on the Mariners’ current nine-game road trip. Raleigh golfed his 13th homer of the season and fifth against a left-hander into the first row of seats in left field.
The Mariners clawed to a 2-0 lead when Randy Arozarena hit his 17th home run in the first inning and Dominic Canzone added an RBI single in the third. With some help from Raleigh, Woo (9-8) maintained the lead before relying on four relievers to complete the victory.
Woo, who had only three quality starts on the road this season — and none since mid-May — entered on the heels of back-to-back scoreless appearances and faced the minimum through three innings before Jeremy Pena opened the fourth with an opposite-field shot to right, his 14th home run slicing the Mariners’ 2-1 lead in half.
Woo retired six of the following seven batters, but surrendered a leadoff homer to Nick Allen in the sixth that answered the Raleigh homer in the top of that frame. Woo allowed two runs on three hits and one walk with five strikeouts over six innings.
The Astros fashioned a rally in the bottom of the eighth, stringing together three successive singles against Mariners relievers Gabe Speier and Seranthony Dominguez. But Dominguez rallied with a strikeout of Daulton Varsho to leave the bases loaded. Mariners closer Andres Munoz notched his 22nd save with a scoreless ninth.
Astros right-hander Hunter Brown (3-3) labored throughout his five-inning stint.
After Arozarena supplied the Mariners a one-run lead, Brown surrendered a one-out double to Canzone and needed a pair of flyball outs to limit the damage in the top of the first.
Brown retired the Mariners in order in the second, but a pair of walks in the third set the stage for Canzone to plate Brock Rodden with his single. Brown walked the bases loaded with two outs in the fourth but struck out Brendan Donovan to end that threat. Brown issued five walks and three hits to go with five strikeouts over five innings.