HOUSTON -- Pretty much anything is on the table for the Astros over the final eight games of the regular season. They’re one game behind the first-place Mariners in the American League West standings, one game behind the Tigers for the No. 2 seed in the AL and 1 1/2 games ahead of the hard-charging Guardians for the final playoff spot.
The only thing that was decided Friday night at Daikin Park was that the Astros’ chances of winning the division will be impacted heavily by what happens in the final two games of their series against the Mariners, who struck first by belting four homers to beat Houston 4-0.
The Mariners, winners of 12 of their past 13 games, could secure the season series with one more this weekend. Houston needs to win both remaining games in the series to get the tiebreaker, which would determine the division title if the teams finish with identical records after 162 games.
“These games are important,” Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña said. “We’re going to flush it and turn the page and show up tomorrow.”
Astros ace Hunter Brown gave up two runs in six innings, both of which came off solo homers. Julio Rodríguez rocketed his 31st homer with two outs in the first inning, and Eugenio Suárez clubbed his 47th with one out in the fourth. Victor Robles homered off Enyel De Los Santos in the seventh, and Josh Naylor hit his 20th off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth.
“Those long balls just hurt us today, but I thought we threw the ball well,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “[We allowed] four runs, and with our offense and when we’re clicking, we’re in the game, right? I thought he threw the ball really well.”
Meanwhile, the Astros’ offense, which celebrated the return of Isaac Paredes off the injured list, managed one hit against Seattle starter Bryan Woo, who threw five scoreless innings before leaving with an injury. Carlos Correa, who doubled in the fourth inning, was the only Astros hitter to reach second base.
Espada was hopeful the Astros could make some hay against the Seattle bullpen after Woo left the game, but they were held to two hits in four innings by relievers Eduard Bazardo, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz.
“I was thinking, ‘Here we go. We at least got a shot here,’” Espada said. “The good thing is we forced Bazardo, who’s one of the high-leverage guys, to go two innings. Muñoz, that’s two days in a row for him. … They did a good job pitching.”
Brown, who was still feeling the effects postgame of being hit in the left calf by a J.P. Crawford grounder in the fifth, tipped his cap to Rodríguez for turning on a two-seam fastball in the first inning that was 1.27 feet inside the edge of the strike zone -- the second-farthest inside pitch to a righty batter that’s yielded a homer in 2025.
“Obviously not the way I wanted the first inning to go and put us in a hole early,” Brown said. “Really good swing by Julio there. I missed actually probably by about three balls in and then to Suárez, thought it was a pretty well-located pitch, but he put a better swing on it.
“That’s how baseball goes sometimes. I don’t think I’m going to beat myself up too much about the locations of those pitches, but sometimes that happens. Solos [homers] don’t kill you, but today it was a difference-maker.”
Brown notched his 21st quality start of the season, tying him with Garrett Crochet of the Red Sox, Cristopher Sánchez of the Phillies, Logan Webb of the Giants and Woo for the most in the Major Leagues. He also reached 200 strikeouts for the first time in his career by whiffing Suárez in the sixth. He is the 18th Astros pitcher to reach 200 strikeouts in a season, and first since Framber Valdez in 2023.
“I’m proud of myself, but we still got work to do,” said Brown, who generated 19 swings and misses. “It’s not really time to reflect on individual accomplishments. I got another start here to end the season before playoffs. I’m going to focus on that.”
Speaking of Valdez, the lefty will get the ball Saturday in what could be his final home start in an Astros uniform. He’s 1-6 with a 5.85 ERA in his past nine starts, with the Astros going 1-8 in those games. They can’t afford to be 1-9.