'Big game for us': Bats erupt vs. Mariners

HOUSTON -- The Yusei Kikuchi the Astros faced on Monday night at Minute Maid Park was nothing close to the Mariners pitcher that they had seen last week, when he threw seven scoreless innings and dominated Houston’s deep lineup.

The Astros turned the tables on Kikuchi, taking advantage of his inability to find the strike zone to pound him for six runs (four earned) in the second inning to back a strong outing by Lance McCullers Jr. in an 11-2 win to open this big AL West showdown series.

“Big game for us,” McCullers said. “They’re putting together some good wins. They’re within striking distance in the division. Today was a big game for us to come out and get a big win.”

The Astros, who were shut out by the Mariners in back-to-back games in Seattle on Tuesday and Wednesday, scored as many runs Monday as they did in their previous five games, which began with the consecutive shutouts. Houston had seven doubles behind five players with multi-hit games, including Kyle Tucker (3-for-4).

“It was great that we got to their bullpen so early,” said Astros outfielder Jake Meyers, who hit a three-run homer in the six-run second inning. “I think that’s big. It’s always good to get up big early and just kind of keep putting it on them, especially in a series like this in our division.”

Here’s a closer look at the Astros’ 80th win of the season.

Offense breaks out
Since scoring 27 runs in back-to-back blowout wins over the Mariners on Aug. 20-21, the Astros’ offense scored 41 runs in its next 13 games, averaging just 3.2 runs per game with a .369 slugging percentage. They were 6-0 when scoring at least four runs and 0-7 when scoring three runs or fewer.

On Monday, the Astros batted around twice -- in the second and sixth innings -- getting production from every spot in the lineup with the exception of catcher. The 14 hits by the Astros included a season-high-tying seven doubles and were the most hits since they had 15 in each of the blowout wins last month.

“This is the kind of game we’re looking for to create some momentum and get some confidence and start a winning streak,” second baseman Jose Altuve (2-for-4) said.

The Astros drew three consecutive walks to start the second inning as 19 of Kikuchi’s first 25 pitches didn’t find the strike zone. All three of those batters scored, including two on a costly fielding error by second baseman Abraham Toro. Houston added three more in the sixth.

"His first 21 pitches against each batter [last week] he had 17 strikes and four balls and today he couldn’t find the plate, which helped us a lot,” manager Dusty Baker said. “I think we had three hits and a bunch of runs. Whenever we walk people, which is a situation you like to see on our side, you’re helping them to score runs, and we took advantage of it. That was the major difference. He couldn’t find the plate this time and last time he had excellent command.”

Changeup key for McCullers
McCullers, who picked up his 11th win of the season, was facing the Mariners for the third time in four starts. He held Seattle to two runs and four hits in six innings. He pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and retired 10 of the final 12 batters he faced after Toro’s two-run double in the third.

“When you face teams back to back, they know you and you know them,” Baker said. “Then it’s a matter of the adjustments you make from start to start. He was exceptional once he settled down. He got out of some jams that were created via the walk because they usually don’t hit him. That was big for him. We really needed this game.”

McCullers said his changeup, which he threw 15 times out of his 93 pitches, was his key pitch. He recorded six outs on the changeup, including two in the first and fourth innings and on a comebacker to the mound by Kyle Seager in the third that he lamented not being able to turn into a double play.

“I thought curveball placement was better overall last start, especially with two strikes,” he said. “I gave up some hits on some elevated breaking balls. I was going backdoor tonight when I wanted to, I was going down under when I wanted to, changeup was in the zone, fastball velo was good. I didn’t throw my slider much or my cutter much, but the slider, obviously, has been good for me. I had the opportunity to get out of that in the third if I just executed one more pitch before the soft liner [by Toro].”