Seattle, WA
Seattle Mariners host AL West rival Astros: 3 things to know
The Seattle Mariners have been in the unique position this season of looking down at the perennial powerhouse Houston Astros in the AL West standings.
As Seattle spent the first two months jostling with the Texas Rangers for first place in the division, the Astros stumbled out of the gates to a stunning 12-24 start. At one point, the Mariners led Houston by 8.5 games.
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But all of a sudden, the Astros are right back in the mix. Houston has moved back into contention by winning 12 of its past 17 games, while Seattle is coming off a 4-6 East Coast road trip and Texas has stumbled to a 3-12 stretch. The first-place Mariners have widened their lead over the Rangers to three games, but their advantage over Houston has dwindled to just 3.5 games.
The Mariners and Astros open a four-game series in Seattle on Monday night, which marks the second of four series between the AL West rivals this season. Earlier this month, the M’s took two of three from Houston at Minute Maid Park. With the Astros coming to town, here are three things to know.
Starting rotation’s injury woes
At the center of Houston’s early-season struggles has been a starting rotation that’s been decimated by injury issues and problems on the back end. The Astros’ starters rank 27th in the majors in ERA (5.09), 30th in WHIP (1.48) and 25th in opponents’ batting average (.259).
Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander missed the first three weeks of the season with shoulder inflammation. Two-time All-Star Framber Valdez was sidelined for three weeks in April with elbow inflammation. Cristian Javier missed nearly a month with neck discomfort and is now dealing with forearm discomfort, which kept him from throwing his scheduled bullpen session Sunday, according to Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle. That could put Javier’s scheduled start Tuesday night in doubt.
In addition, the last spot or two in Houston’s rotation has been a mess. Hunter Brown has a 7.06 ERA, rookie Spencer Arrighetti has a 6.93 ERA and J.P. France had a 7.46 ERA before being sent down to Triple-A.
Valdez is scheduled to start Monday’s series opener and Verlander is slated to start Thursday’s series finale, but the Mariners should have favorable matchups in the other two games, with Javier’s start in question on Tuesday and Brown slotted for Wednesday. Seattle also gets a break in dodging 30-year-old Ronel Blanco, who has a 1.99 ERA through nine starts in a breakout third season. Blanco started on Sunday in his return from a 10-game suspension for having a foreign substance in his glove, and thus won’t be available to pitch in Seattle.
Tucker leading the way offensively
The Astros rank 10th in the majors with 4.6 runs per game, but they sit in the top five in most other major offensive categories. They rank first in batting average (.264), fifth in on-base percentage (.330), fourth in slugging percentage (.421), fourth in OPS (.751) and tied for fifth in home runs (64).
Two-time All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker has led the way, erupting for a torrid start that’s put him alongside New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge as an early AL MVP favorite. The 27-year-old Tucker has an MLB-leading 18 home runs, including 11 homers in his past 23 games. He also ranks second in slugging percentage (.624), second in OPS (1.033) and fourth in on-base percentage, trailing Judge by slim margins in all three categories. Tucker went just 1-for-10 with one homer in the three-game series against Seattle earlier this month, but don’t expect those types of numbers again this week.
Tucker is one of four Astros in the top 25 of the AL in OPS, along with second baseman Jose Altuve (.821), shortstop Jeremy Peña (.803) and outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (.799). Alvarez’s numbers are a bit down from his otherworldly stats the past two seasons, but he’s still a massive threat in the heart of Houston’s order — as the Mariners know all too well. Third baseman Alex Bregman, however, is off to the worst start of his career. The two-time All-Star is batting just .210 with a .601 OPS, which is nearly 250 points below his career average.
Hot-and-cold bullpen
The Astros’ bullpen was a major issue early in the season. Through May 8, Houston relievers ranked 24th in ERA (4.71) and 27th in WHIP (1.42). Since then, however, the unit has been among the best in the majors. The Astros have an MLB-best 1.60 bullpen ERA since May 9, which is 0.73 better than the next-closest team. They also have a 0.95 WHIP over that span, which ranks second in the majors.
The most dramatic turnaround in Houston’s bullpen belongs to five-time All-Star closer Josh Hader, who signed a five-year, $95 million contract with the Astros in free agency this past offseason. Hader struggled to a 6.14 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in his first 15 relief appearances this season, which included giving up a tiebreaking homer to Cal Raleigh in the ninth inning of Seattle’s 5-4 comeback win in the May 5 series finale in Houston. But after that outing, Hader regained his usual dominance. The hard-throwing left-hander has allowed just one run, two hits and two walks in 9 1/3 innings since May 9, while striking out 14 of the 32 batters he’s faced over that stretch.
First pitch Monday night is at 6:40 p.m. You can listen to all the action on Seattle Sports 710 AM or on the Seattle Sports app.
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CHICAGO (AP) — The struggling New York Mets placed former Seattle Mariners second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with a right wrist contusion.
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The move was made retroactive to Wednesday, a day after Polanco went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a 2-1 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 32-year-old Polanco is batting .179 (10 for 56) with a homer and two RBIs in his first season with New York, which has lost nine straight.
“When doctors first took a look at him, it looked like he got hit by a pitch when he didn’t,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “In talking to him, it was just a couple of swings that he took that night. … He didn’t think much of it, but just got worse the following day.
“So you just got to let it calm down a little bit and then we’ll go from there. But we don’t have a timetable for how long this is going to last.”
Polanco, who signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Mets in December, also has been dealing with an ankle issue.
“He was trending in the right direction,” Mendoza said of the ankle injury. “It’s definitely going to help, obviously now with him being shut down. But the biggest thing now is that we’ve got to take care of that wrist.”
Polanco spent the previous two seasons with the Mariners, who acquired him in a February 2024 trade with the Minnesota Twins.
Polanco struggled during his first season with Seattle in 2024, hitting just .213 with 16 homers in 118 games while playing through a knee injury that didn’t become public knowledge until after the season.
But after the Mariners somewhat surprisingly brought him back for a one-year contract in 2025, Polanco rebounded to hit .265 with 26 homers and an .821 OPS in 138 games last season. He then added three homers during Seattle’s playoff run, along with a 15th-inning walkoff single in Game 5 of the American League Division Series that sent the Mariners to their first ALCS in 24 years.
Seattle Sports staff made additions to this post.
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Seattle, WA
Brandon Nimmo hits leadoff homer, Jacob deGrom works 4 scoreless as Rangers beat Seattle Mariners 5-0
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – APRIL 17: Corey Seager #5 of the Texas Rangers tags out Dominic Canzone #8 of the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning at T-Mobile Park on April 17, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SEATTLE – Brandon Nimmo hit a leadoff home run, Jacob deGrom threw four shutout innings and Gavin Collyer earned his first career win as the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 5-0 on Friday night.
Seattle lost its fourth straight game, and was shut out for the fourth time in 21 games, falling to 8-13. The Mariners were shut out six times during the 2025 season. Texas won its third straight game.
Nimmo led off the game with a 372-foot shot to right field off Mariners starter Logan Gilbert (1-3). It was Nimmo’s 16th career leadoff homer and second of the season. He also hit a leadoff home run on April 11 in a 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
DeGrom effectively maneuvered through Seattle’s lineup, and worked out of a one out, bases-loaded jam in the first inning. The two-time Cy Young Award winner recorded two of his three strikeouts after walking Josh Naylor to load the bases. Randy Arozarena fanned on a curveball, and Luke Raley swung through a fastball.
Texas added to its lead after Nimmo’s homer. Wyatt Langford’s single to left scored Corey Seager, who led off the third inning with a double. The Rangers stretched the lead to 3-0 on an RBI single from Jake Burger in the seventh.
The Mariners’ best scoring chance came in the sixth after Collyer (1-0), who worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings, left the game.
J.P. Crawford singled to left off Tyler Alexander with two out, and Mariners third base coach Carlos Cardoza sent Naylor from second base, but he was thrown out by Langford.
Texas added two more runs in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Andrew McCutchen and an RBI double by Josh Jung.
Seattle third baseman Brendan Donovan left the game early due to a left hip issue.
Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller, who started the year on the injured list with a left oblique injury, was at T-Mobile Park for the first time this season. He will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday.
Up next
Mariners RHP George Kirby (2-2, 3.25) will face Rangers righty Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 5.40) on Saturday afternoon.
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FIFE, Wash. – A portion of southbound I-5 will be closed overnight in Fife Friday and Saturday night, according to WSDOT.
The Washington State Department of Transportation says the purpose of the closure is to install a new electronic sign and will need two nights to do it.
Crews will close southbound I-5 from 54th Avenue to Port of Tacoma Road starting at 11 p.m. Friday night until 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Closures will resume Saturday night starting at 11 p.m. as well, and lanes will reopen Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m.
WSDOT says the closure will include the 54th Avenue ramps to southbound I-5.
Detours for weekend I-5 closure in Fife, WA
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The Source: Information in this story comes from the Washington State Department of Transportation.
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