Seattle, WA
Mariners squander late lead as Seattle falls 5-3 to Astros
HOUSTON, TEXAS – MAY 03: Jose Altuve #27 of the Houston Astros steals the 300th base of his career against Dylan Moore #25 of the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning at Minute Maid Park on May 03, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Jack Gorman / Getty Images)
HOUSTON – Jose Altuve hit a go-ahead bunt RBI single and collected his 300th career stolen base in Houston’s four-run seventh inning to lead the Astros to a 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
The 2017 AL MVP is the fifth player in MLB history to have at least 300 steals, 2,000 hits, 400 doubles, 200 homers and a career batting average of .300 or higher, joining Derek Jeter, Paul Molitor, Willie Mays and Roberto Alomar.
“It’s always good to get milestones like that, but I think that we are in the wrong time to think about stats because we’re trying to win games and cover some ground we lost in the beginning,” Altuve said. “But yeah I’m very happy and thankful for this kind of stuff.”
The Astros moved into a tie with the Angels for last place in the AL West at 12-20 while the first-place Mariners fell to 17-15.
The Mariners missed a scoring opportunity in the eighth. Josh Rojas was on second and Julio Rodríguez on third with no outs before Ryan Pressly struck out Jorge Polanco.
Mitch Haniger then hit a high fly ball to right field that Kyle Tucker caught. Rojas took off toward home before quickly retreating to third base. But Rodríguez dashed toward third, forcing Rojas into a rundown that resulted in him being tagged out at the plate to end the inning.
“We didn’t play good baseball,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “Free bases, base running miscues, you can’t do that on the road against a good team.”
Josh Hader walked one in a scoreless ninth for his third save.
“We’ve just got to continue to remind ourselves how good we are when we play our style of baseball, doing the little things well,” manager Joe Espada said. “And when we do that, we are a really, really good team.”
Jeremy Peña got things going in the seventh with a walk before a single by Yainer Diaz. There was one out in the inning when Gabe Speier (0-1) came in and walked pinch-hitter Jake Meyers to load the bases.
The Astros cut the lead to one when Peña scored on an error by catcher Cal Raleigh on a pickoff attempt. A sacrifice fly by Mauricio Dubón scored Diaz to tie it before Altuve’s hit.
Altuve’s bunt rolled toward third base allowing Meyers to score just before Altuve beat the throw by Rojas to first to make it 4-3.
“I felt like we needed this game and it was a must-win for us, so I decided to take the chance,” Altuve.
Altuve stole second base before consecutive walks by Tucker and Yordan Alvarez loaded the bases for the second time in the inning. Cody Bolton replaced Speier and he walked Alex Bregman to extend the lead to 5-3.
Polanco hit a solo homer for Seattle in the third and Dylan Moore’s two-run shot in the fifth made it 3-1.
The bullpen struggles ruined a strong start by George Kirby. He allowed four hits and one run in six innings for Seattle’s 20th quality start this season, which leads the majors.
Servais said he pulled Kirby after six because he is dealing with a right knee issue that he doesn’t consider to be major.
Houston starter Ronel Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut, allowed five hits and a season-high three runs in six innings. Seth Martinez (2-2) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win.
There was one out in the fourth when Alvarez snapped an 0-for-18 skid with a double to center field. Bregman singled to send him to third before the Astros tied it when Alvarez scored on Peña’s groundout.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: RHP Cristian Javier (sore neck) will make a rehabilitation start for Double-A Corpus Christi on Saturday. He is expected to throw 60-65 pitches. Manager Joe Espada said they expect him to come off the injured list after that start.
UP NEXT
Houston LHP Framber Valdez (1-0, 2.60) opposes RHP Logan Gilbert (2-0, 2.03) when the series continues Saturday night.
MORE MARINERS NEWS
MLB, Nike announce changes to uniforms for 2025 amid player, fan scrutiny
Four-run 4th inning fueled by Mitch Haniger error sinks Seattle Mariners in 5-2 loss to Braves
Family of Microsoft exec Brad Smith joins Mariners ownership group
Luis Castillo throws seven scoreless innings as Seattle Mariners beat Braves 3-2
Seattle, WA
Evacuations ordered in 3 south Seattle suburbs after levee fails after week of heavy rain
SEATTLE (AP) – Officials ordered immediate evacuations in three south Seattle suburbs Monday after a levee failed following a week of heavy rains.
The evacuation order from King County in Washington state covered homes and businesses east of the Green River in parts of Kent, Auburn and Tukwila.
Emergency shelters have been set up at the following locations:
- Auburn Community and Event Center, 910 9th St. SE, Auburn, WA, 98002
- Ray of Hope Shelter, 2806 Auburn Way N. Auburn, WA, 98002
- Evergreen State Fairgrounds, 14405 179th Ave. SE., Monroe, WA 98272 (Open 24 hours) – Pets welcomed
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning covering nearly 47,000 people.
“Conditions are dangerous and access routes may be lost at any time,” the weather service said in a post on X.
The levee breach followed a week of heavy rain and flooding that inundated communities, forced the evacuations of tens of thousands of people, and prompted scores of rescues throughout western Washington state
Copyright 2025 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.
Seattle, WA
Report: Seattle Mariners a front-runner for Cards’ Donovan
The Seattle Mariners have emerged as one of two front-runners in trade talks with the St. Louis Cardinals for utilityman Brendan Donovan, The Athletic’s Katie Woo reported on Saturday.
Drayer: How Polanco’s departure impacts Seattle Mariners’ offseason
Woo reported a league source said trade discussions between the Mariners and Cardinals have been heating up since the Winter Meetings, and that switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje and outfielder Lazaro Montes – two of Seattle’s top-seven prospects, per MLB pipeline – are two names St. Louis has inquired about, among others.
The Cardinals will not trade Donovan unless they are “blown away” by the return, and it’s believed they are looking for at least two prospects, per Woo’s reporting.
The San Francisco Giants were the other of the two front-runners Woo named. She also said that both the Mariners and Giants remain engaged in talks with the Arizona Diamondbacks about second baseman Ketel Marte.
Can the M’s give up what Arizona wants for a Ketel Marte trade?
Donovan, who will turn 29 next month, has two years of club control remaining. He’s played every position except catcher during his four-year career, with the majority of his time coming at second base and left field. He would figure to mainly factor in at second base and third base for the Mariners, who have young players like Cole Young, Ben Williamson and Colt Emerson vying for time at those positions.
Donovan was a first-time All-Star in 2025, batting .287 with a .353 on-base percentage, .422 slugging percentage, .775 OPS, 32 doubles, 10 home runs and 50 RBIs in 118 games. His 13% strikeout rate ranked in the 92nd percentile of big league hitters and his 13.4% whiff rate in the 95th percentile, per Baseball Savant.
Over four MLB seasons, Donovan has a career .282 average with a .361 on-base percentage, .411 slugging percentage, .772 OPS, 97 doubles, 40 homers and 202 RBIs in 492 games. He won the NL Gold Glove for utility players during his rookie season in 2022.
As for the prospects Woo reported the Cardinals inquiring about, the 22-year-old Cijntje is Seattle’s No. 7 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. The unique pitcher had a 3.99 ERA and 1.22 WHIP while holding opponents to a .207 average, striking out 120 batters and walking 51 in 108 1/3 innings pitched over 26 appearances (23 starts) across High-A and Double-A in 2025.
The 21-year-old Montes is considered to be the best power-hitting prospect in the Mariners’ farm system and is their No. 3 overall farmhand, per MLB Pipeline. The slugging outfielder hit .241 with a .354 on-base percentage, .504 slugging percentage, .858 OPS, 19 doubles, seven triples, 32 home runs, 89 RBIs, 83 walks and 169 strikeouts over 131 games across High-A and Double-A this year. Montes finished tied for third in home runs among minor leaguers across all levels.
The report that the M’s are one of the top contenders for Donovan came on the same day as they lost out on re-signing their top remaining free-agent target, second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco, who reportedly agreed to a two-year, $40 million deal with the New York Mets.
More Seattle Mariners offseason coverage
• Backup catcher target emerges for Seattle Mariners, per reports
• Drayer: Mariners’ plan for 2B and 3B coming more into focus
• Salk: What we know and think about Seattle Mariners’ offseason needs
• Why Nolan Arenado could make sense as a Seattle Mariners trade target
• Drayer: Mariners’ plan for 2B and 3B coming more into focus
• The one move Passan says could make Mariners the AL favorites
Seattle, WA
WEST SEATTLE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS: As seen from two wheels
Tonight’s spotlight lights are courtesy of Al, who sent this photo from a stop during The Beer Junction‘s wassail ride tonight – he says it’s in North Admiral, SW Atlantic between California SW and 44th SW. As for the ride, Al reports 17 people pedaled about six miles:
Wherever and however you find lights worth sharing, westseattleblog@gmail.com – with or without a pic! (To see what we’ve shown already, scroll through this WSB archive!)
-
Alaska1 week agoHowling Mat-Su winds leave thousands without power
-
Texas1 week agoTexas Tech football vs BYU live updates, start time, TV channel for Big 12 title
-
Washington6 days agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa1 week agoMatt Campbell reportedly bringing longtime Iowa State staffer to Penn State as 1st hire
-
Iowa2 days agoHow much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
-
Miami, FL1 week agoUrban Meyer, Brady Quinn get in heated exchange during Alabama, Notre Dame, Miami CFP discussion
-
Cleveland, OH1 week agoMan shot, killed at downtown Cleveland nightclub: EMS
-
Iowa20 hours agoAddy Brown motivated to step up in Audi Crooks’ absence vs. UNI