'This is crunch time': Astros' playoff hopes dwindle after Mariners' sweep

HOUSTON -- The last time the Astros were in California, they swept the Dodgers in early July to get to a season-high 20 games over .500 and open up a seven-game lead in the American League West standings. They will return to the Golden State this week fighting for their playoff lives with six crucial games against the A’s and Angels to end the season.

The Astros’ chances of winning a fifth consecutive AL West championship were pretty much dashed at the hands of the Mariners, who stormed into Daikin Park this weekend and swept Houston in dominating fashion, capped by Sunday night’s 7-3 win in the season’s home finale.

The Mariners have a stranglehold on the top spot in the AL West with six games remaining. They have a three-game lead and also own the tiebreaker over the Astros, who have gone 29-37 since sweeping the Dodgers while battling numerous key injuries that have depleted their depth and tested their will.

“They pitched good, but they also hit and they played better than us,” Astros second baseman Jose Altuve said. “We have to take the day off [Monday] and these last six games, we have to win as many as possible. If we do, I’m pretty sure we’re going to make the playoffs.”

The Astros, who finished with a 46-35 home record, will play three games in West Sacramento against the A’s beginning Tuesday and three games in Anaheim next weekend against the Angels. They’ll need to finish strong considering they’re tied with the Guardians for the third Wild Card spot, with Cleveland owning the tiebreaker.

“It’s one game at a time,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “We’ve got six to go, six big ones. We played really well on the West Coast. We need to bring it, man. This is crunch time. This is when you play your best. I’ll take this team against any other team when our backs are against the corner.”

Coming off a three-game sweep of the Rangers in which they scored first and never trailed at any point, the Astros had the tables turned on them by the Mariners. The teams began the series tied atop the AL West, but Seattle scored first in all three games and never trailed, outscoring the Astros, 17-7.

“They played good baseball and we didn’t,” third baseman Carlos Correa said. “The result is what you get when that happens.”

All-Star shortstop Jeremy Peña, who hit a pop fly grand slam in the seventh inning Saturday, was scratched from the lineup Sunday with left oblique soreness. On Sunday, Houston got homers from rookie Zach Cole and veteran Isaac Paredes, who hit his first since missing 54 games with a strained hamstring. All but one run the Astros scored in the series came on a homer (Houston was 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position).

The long balls by Cole and Paredes didn’t matter after starter Jason Alexander, who had led the Astros to wins in his previous nine starts, was rocked for seven runs in the second inning by the Mariners, including a grand slam by J.P. Crawford. Cal Raleigh added his 58th homer, and Alexander was pulled after recording only four outs. Seattle sent 11 batters to the plate in the second and scored as many runs as Houston did in three games.

“That offense, they came out swinging the bats,” Espada said. “We didn’t have a counter for [it]. Not the ideal situation, right? Not what we wanted or were expecting out of the series. We got to really take our off day [Monday] and be ready to play on Tuesday.”

Altuve began the game with a first-pitch double to left off Logan Gilbert, but the Astros wouldn't manage another hit until they were down, 7-0. Mariners starting pitchers allowed only one run -- Cole’s third-inning homer -- and nine hits while striking out 18 batters in 17 innings in the series.

“Their pitching is really good pitching -- starters, bullpen,” Espada said. “We’re trying to do everything we can to capitalize and try to get runs across the board. It’s not as easy as it looks, especially when you're facing that type of pitching. We had some opportunities during that game to get back in the game. Our bullpen did a really nice job trying to hold on in there and give us a shot. We just couldn't do it.”

Six games are all that stand between the Astros extending their season into October or missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

“We have to go out there and figure out a way to win, no matter if it's pretty or ugly,” Correa said. “At the end of the day, it’s about the W at the end.”