M's dazzling D in 9th, HRs in 10th top Astros

HOUSTON -- After five ties and six lead changes, Seattle's Kyle Seager and Danny Valencia secured the Mariners' 9-7 win at Minute Maid Park on Monday with a pair of solo homers in the 10th inning.
The Mariners' sixth set of back-to-back homers this season gave the Astros their first extra-innings loss in five such contests this season. It's the first time Seattle hit back-to-back HRs in extras since Sept. 8, 2002, at Kansas City (Ben Davis and Mike Cameron).
"We've certainly played our fair share of tough games here, and I don't know the numbers, but I feel like we've been on the wrong side of a lot of them," said Seager. "It's nice to win a game like this. It's certainly nice to win a game here like this against that team. That's a really good team over there, and we had a lot of battle, a lot of fight in us today. This was a really good win for us."
"They did more at the end to win," said Astros manager A.J. Hinch. "We have to give credit where credit is due. ... It is tough to lose that game."
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Seattle's win was its third vs. the American League West-leading Astros (62-31) this season. The Mariners improved to 47-47 with their fifth straight victory, joining the Astros as the AL West's only clubs at or above .500.
• Astros hold funeral for Beltran's glove
Mariners closer Edwin Díaz notched his fourth save in four days with a perfect 10th after shortstop Jean Segura helped send the game into extra innings with three excellent defensive plays in the bottom of the ninth to give long reliever Yovani Gallardo the win in his first appearance in 11 days.

"We've had some good wins, but this is right there with the [Justin Verlander] game and how we were getting dominated that night and turned it around," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "But this one, as far as a total team effort, every pitcher, every position player on the field left it out there."
After the Mariners scored five quick runs off Houston's All-Star right-hander Lance McCullers Jr., the Astros used a four-run sixth to erase the early damage -- temporarily.
Energized mainly by Carlos Beltrán's two-out, two-run homer in a four-run sixth, the Astros briefly held a one-run lead before Seattle's designated hitter, Nelson Cruz, answered with a Statcast-estimated 417-foot homer to left field in the seventh to tie it. Seattle catcher Mike Zunino hit a solo homer in the eighth before Astros outfielder George Springer tied it up in the bottom of the frame with a sacrifice fly.

As for the Astros, Carlos Correa -- who was removed from the game with a jammed left thumb in the fourth inning -- lifted a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first to tie the score after Segura scored on an error in the top of the inning to open the scoring.

The Mariners added three runs on a pair of doubles by Valencia and Zunino in the fourth. Houston's Springer, Correa, Beltran, Yuli Gurriel and Jake Marisnick combined for seven RBIs on five hits.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Seattle swats two off Sipp: In the Astros' first extra-inning game since May 5, left-handed reliever Tony Sipp gave up the solo shots -- both on mislocated sliders -- to Seager and Valencia. The homers totaled 819 feet in projected distance, according to Statcast™.
"I felt like I threw two good pitches to get ahead, just didn't finish them off," Sipp said. "On the slider, [Seager] did what he was supposed to do with it. Same with Valencia, he hit it out also. Just got to make better pitches, especially in those situations."
Zunino's solo shot steals lead: Seattle's No. 9 hitter, Zunino, belted a solo homer in the top of the eighth inning onto the train tracks in left field, giving Seattle a temporary 7-6 lead. The homer, his 13th, traveled a projected 398 feet and reached 145 feet in height, according to Statcast™.

QUOTABLE
"He just struggled with his location. He didn't really have it tonight to make pitches. ... The more he tried and the more effort that he gave, the worse that his location came. ... It just wasn't a night where he was making pitches to put guys away. He struggled with that. He looked uncomfortable in the sense with his timing, his delivery and his execution." -- Hinch, on McCullers

"The defense Jean threw out there was unbelievable. The backhand stop, that was the key out, getting the first out on Marwin Gonzalez. Then the play at home, the backhand force play, there was a lot going on that inning." -- Servais, on Segura's three outstanding plays in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings
• Segura dazzles with defense in Mariners' win

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Marisnick launched a double in the fifth inning for the Astros' 50th straight game with at least one two-base hit. Houston trails only the 1996 Indians (75 games) and 1999 Braves (51) for the most consecutive games with a double in MLB history.
After two stints on the disabled list, Segura finally reached enough plate appearances to qualify for the AL batting title race. And with a 2-for-5 night, he's hitting .349, which puts him first in the league, just ahead of Jose Altuve (.347).
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
The Mariners successfully challenged an out call on a stolen-base attempt by Ben Gamel in the fifth. It took just 45 seconds for the call to be overturned, with Gamel credited with his third stolen base of the season. Gamel wound up scoring two outs later on an infield single by Seager to give Seattle a 5-2 lead.

WHAT'S NEXT
Mariners:Sam Gaviglio (3-4, 4.31 ERA) will be recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to start Tuesday's 5:10 p.m. PT game against the Astros. The 27-year-old rookie right-hander has filled in well over the past two months, though he had his worst start in his last outing, vs. the A's, before being sent down for one start over the All-Star break.
Astros: Righty Brad Peacock (7-1, 2.63 ERA) will make his 10th start since being promoted out of the bullpen in late May. He is 5-1 in his previous nine starts with a 3.18 ERA and 62 strikeouts. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. CT.
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