Astros' playoff chances in peril with second straight loss to Mariners

HOUSTON -- Astros center fielder Jake Meyers stood at home plate in disbelief, echoing the feeling of a sellout crowd that had just ridden a roller-coaster of emotions in the span of about 10 seconds. Nervousness turned to excitement before giving away to disappointment.

Then reality hit everyone at Daikin Park as hard as it has at any point this season.

The Astros’ chances of winning another American League West title took a major blow after they lost their second consecutive game, 6-4, on Saturday night to the Mariners (86-69), who have opened up a two-game lead atop the division and clinched the tiebreaker over Houston. If the teams finish with the same record after 162 games, the Mariners will get the division title.

The game ended on a stunning double play when Seattle right fielder Victor Robles made an incredible diving catch of a Carlos Correa line drive, then doubled up Meyers at second base for the final out of the game. Meyers thought the ball had dropped and was waved home by third-base coach Tony Perezchica, only to find out when he crossed home plate that the game was over.

“Obviously, I’m watching the game from my office,” said Astros manager Joe Espada, who was ejected in the fifth inning. “[Meyers] probably thought that ball was falling and was going to drop there. I got to go back and look at it. Robles made a heck of a play. At least from my view, that ball was going to fall, but obviously it didn’t.”

And with that, the Astros are suddenly fighting for their playoff lives. The Guardians, winners of 10 games in a row -- including two Saturday -- and the Astros are both 84-71 and tied for the third Wild Card spot in the AL, but Cleveland owns the tiebreaker over Houston. For now, the Astros -- who haven't missed the postseason since 2016 -- are on the outside of the postseason picture with seven games remaining, looking in.

“Tomorrow, we’ve got to come back again and try to win,” Correa said. “There’s still plenty of games left and we’ve got to keep trying to play baseball. Tomorrow is another important game and we have to go out there and get that W.”

The Mariners, who came to Houston tied with the Astros for first place, won Friday’s series opener, 4-0, and led, 6-0, through six innings Saturday. Houston was in desperate need of a spark and got one when shortstop Jeremy Peña hit a grand slam off reliever Carlos Vargas to cut the lead to 6-4.

“That’s what we need to do,” Peña said. “We need timely hitting, cash in the runs. The guys before me did a great job of getting on base and I was trying to put a good swing on the baseball and it was a good result.”

The Astros stranded runners at second and third base in the eighth but rallied again in the ninth against closer Andrés Muñoz. Meyers was hit by a pitch and moved to second with one out when Peña walked, bringing the potential winning run to the plate with one out. Correa’s liner to right field hung in the air for 3.8 seconds -- long enough for Robles to make a great catch.

“I didn’t even know where Robles came from,” Correa said. “To me, it looked like he was really far from the moment I hit it. I was just watching [center fielder] Julio [Rodríguez] and then I thought the ball would drop and then he came out of nowhere. It was a fantastic play.”

Peña held up short of second base to see if the ball was caught while Meyers turned for home. Meyers wasn’t available for comment postgame, but Peña said he would have tried to score from second base, too.

“He had the right mindset,” he said. “I was right behind him and I had a better view of the play so I could kind of go back [to first]. I felt like he had the right read, the right play. It was just unfortunate. He made a great play, but we battled. It was a well-played game and we’re going to turn the page and show up tomorrow.”

Astros left-hander Framber Valdez, in perhaps his final home start in a Houston uniform, continued his second-half nosedive by allowing five runs -- including Cal Raleigh’s club-record 57th home run in the third -- on six hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings.

After winning 13 consecutive games started by Valdez from May 7-July 22, the Astros are 1-9 in his last 10 starts. Valdez is 1-7 with a 6.16 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in his last 10 starts, which is one of the biggest reasons their playoff chances are in peril.

“I recognize it’s been 10 bad starts,” he said. “Not everything is peaches and roses. I recognize I haven’t been throwing the ball as well. This is baseball. This stuff that happens. I just have to keep on working and keep on making adjustments.”