HOUSTON -- Kyle Seager narrowly missed out on homering for a fourth straight game on Tuesday, but Seattle's third baseman succeeded in joining an exclusive group of players who've hit 200 doubles during their Mariners careers.
Seager doubled off the center-field wall on a drive projected at 413 feet by Statcast™ in the fifth inning and wound up scoring Seattle's first run on an infield single by Jarrod Dyson for one of the few bright spots in a 6-2 loss to the American League West-leading Astros that snapped the Mariners' five-game win streak.
"I didn't even know about that, but that's obviously something that is pretty good and hopefully I can keep adding to that," Seager said.
Seager also flew out deep to the warning track in his first at-bat against Houston right-hander Brad Peacock on a ball right fielder Josh Reddick tracked down at the wall.
"I would have liked if that would have been the 200th double," Seager said after the Mariners failed to otherwise make much of a dent against Peacock. "That would have been nice. When I hit it, I was hoping it would get over his head but he obviously made a nice play on it."
The 29-year-old Seager is now tied with Harold Reynolds for eighth on Seattle's all-time doubles list, a group headed by his hitting coach, Edgar Martinez, who racked up 514 doubles in his prestigious career. Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. is second on the list with 341, followed by Ichiro Suzuki (295), Jay Buhner (231), Raul Ibanez (216), Alvin Davis (212) and Dan Wilson (207).
Five of the seven players ahead of him are in the Mariners Hall of Fame and the two that aren't -- Ichiro and Ibanez --- aren't eligible yet.
As for his hitting coach, Seager thought that Mariners record might be even higher.
"I figured he probably had a thousand," Seager said.
After a sub-Seager first half, the Mariners third baseman has warmed nicely since the All-Star break. He's 8-for-22 (.363) with two doubles, three homers, four RBIs and five runs in the first five games of a road trip that wraps up Wednesday.
"It feels pretty good right now," he said. "I'm getting into pretty good positions and am able to get decent swings off. I'll just try to continue to keep working in the cage and maintain it."
Seager has raised his slash line to .256/.322/.433 with 13 homers and 51 RBIs and figures to play a key role in the Mariners' second-half hopes if he continues that surge.
"Kyle has swung the bat really well since we've come back from the break," manager Scott Servais said. "He hit a couple balls on the screws tonight."
The Mariners didn't get much else going in this one, but are still 4-1 on the road trip and have a chance to close out a very successful trek with a win on Wednesday with James Paxton on the mound.
"It's a big game tomorrow," Seager said. "We've got Pax going for us and we certainly like that. It'd be nice to come in here and win a series. That is certainly the goal."