SEATTLE (AP) — Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon certainly came away with one persistent thought after Seattle’s 5-2 loss to the Houston Astros.
It was bad.
Jose Altuve had two hits to reach 200 in helping the Astros chase starter Hisashi Iwakuma and slow the Mariners’ playoff push Wednesday night.
“Kuma had a bad outing, the hitters had a bad outing, the defense had a bad outing, everything was bad,” McClendon said. “It’s just one of those days.”
Asked what he thought about Iwakuma’s effort, McClendon added: “He was throwing a lot of bad pitches. Kind of hard to have thoughts.”
The Mariners, who lost two of three in the series, are a half-game behind Detroit for the second AL wild card. The Tigers lost 3-0 to AL Central rival Kansas City.
“I think everything is a little more magnified right now, for sure. Being in the hunt this time of year, every game is important,” Seattle third baseman Kyle Seager said. “But you’re not doing your team or yourself justice dwelling on it for too long. It’s a good time for an off day (Thursday) and come back for a big series this weekend.”
Oakland, which arrives at Safeco Field on Friday for a three-game set, holds a two-game advantage over the Mariners for the first wild-card spot.
“This is the first game we’ve had like that all year — a tough, disappointing loss,” McClendon said.
Iwakuma (14-7) lasted 4 1-3 innings, his third-shortest outing of the season. He gave up four runs and six hits.
“I couldn’t command my pitches down in the zone and it cost me the game,” the Japanese right-hander said through a translator. “In general, all my pitches were up today.”
Iwakuma was off from the start. The best indicator was his one-out walk to Jon Singleton in the second, only the 15th walk issued by Iwakuma in 161 2-3 innings this season.
Matt Dominguez popped out before consecutive hits by Alex Presley, Max Stassi and Jonathan Villar produced three runs.
In Iwakuma’s 24 previous starts, opponents had scored a combined three runs in the second inning.
“He hung a slider right there and I capitalized on it,” said Stassi, who had a two-run single.
Nick Tropeano (1-0) held the Mariners in check for five innings in his major league debut. He allowed two runs on four hits, striking out five and walking none, before leaving with a 4-2 lead.
Tony Sipp finished for his fourth save. Regular closer Chad Qualls has a nagging hip injury and was unavailable.
Tropeano’s only trouble came in the second when Mike Zunino hit a two-run double.
Altuve had an RBI double in the fifth.
“I feel real happy,” he said. “We won this game, I got 200 hits and the team is playing great. Couldn’t ask for more.”
Altuve reached 200 hits in his 146th game. That’s the fastest in the majors since Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki reached 200 in 144 games in 2009.
Altuve also leads the league in hitting at .336 and steals with 52. If he finishes as the leader in all three categories, he would be the first player to do that since Suzuki in 2001.
The Astros added a run in the eighth on Presley’s two-out RBI single.
Houston has won 14 of 22, going 6-2 since interim manager Tom Lawless took over when Bo Porter was fired last week.
“There’s a different mojo going right now,” Lawless said. “They’re not intimidated by anybody. They know who we are playing and they know the other team’s got a lot at stake. We’re going out there with the attitude that we can play with them and we can beat them. You see it on the field the way we play.”
UP NEXT
The Mariners have their final off day of the season Thursday before their critical weekend series against Oakland. LHP James Paxton (5-2, 1.87 ERA) opens Friday against A’s RHP Jason Hammel (2-5, 4.70).
CLOSER TO THE END
Even though Mariners closer Fernando Rodney has 44 saves in 47 opportunities and needs only two more to set a franchise record, he tends to be a final-inning roller coaster.
Enjoy the ride, McClendon says.
“I’m a believer that once you get to your closer in the ninth inning, you’ve done your job as a manager,” he explained. “It’s his game to win or lose. … If you asked if I’d take Fernando Rodney out of the game, it would have to be dire straits.”
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