Randy Arozarena hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer into the second deck in left field in the fifth inning and the Seattle Mariners snapped a five-game skid with a 9-6 victory against the visiting Houston Astros on Friday night.
Yordan Alvarez hit a three-run homer for the Astros, who lost their fifth in a row.
Mariners starter Emerson Hancock (2-1) overcame one shaky frame to pitch five innings and allowed three runs on four hits. The right-hander walked two and struck out five.
With the score tied at 3-all, Josh Naylor led off the bottom of the fifth by grounding a single to center field. Arozarena followed with a 426-foot blast off Astros reliever Ryan Weiss (0-2).
The Mariners added four runs in the seventh. Dominic Canzone doubled home one run and another scored on a single by J.P. Crawford. The others came home on a wild pitch and groundout.
Alvarez’s three-run shot to right in the eighth off Cole Wilcox halved the Astros’ deficit. Matt Brash came in to get an inning-ending double play and Andres Munoz worked the ninth for his first save of the season.
Houston starter Tatsuya Imai didn’t make it out of the first inning despite not allowing a ball to leave the infield.
Crawford, moved into the top spot in the Mariners’ lineup with Brendan Donovan out with an illness, and Cal Raleigh drew back-to-back walks and Julio Rodriguez reached on an infield single to load the bases with no outs.
Naylor walked to bring home the first run and Arozarena was hit by a pitch to make it 2-0. The third scored when Luke Raley grounded out. Cole Young walked to re-load the bases, ending Imai’s night. The right-hander was charged with three runs on one hit in one-third of an inning, with four walks and the hit batter.
The Astros tied it with three runs in the second.
Isaac Paredes grounded a single to left and advanced on a wild pitch. After a base on balls to Christian Walker, Carlos Correa lined a single to center to load the bases. Hancock appeared on the verge of getting out of the jam when Cam Smith lined out to third and Joey Loperfido struck out. Christian Vazquez grounded a double down the left-field line, scoring all three runners.
