SEATTLE — Another big lead was slowly slipping away, but the Astros had the man they wanted on the mound this time: Ryan Pressly. The All-Star closer, who wasn’t available in Monday’s loss when Houston blew a seven-run lead, held off a late Seattle charge in the ninth inning and closed the door in the Astros’ 8-6 win on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park.
Only hours after the Astros acquired right-handers Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero from the Mariners to put at the back of their bullpen with Pressly, it was infielder Abraham Toro — who went to Seattle from Houston in the trade — hitting a pinch-hit two-run homer off Pressly in the ninth to cut the lead to two runs. The homer glanced off the glove of right fielder Kyle Tucker, dropped over the wall and gave Seattle a glimmer of hope.
Not so fast, said Pressly. With runners at first and second and one out, Pressly retired two dangerous hitters — Kyle Seager and Ty France — to end the game and a surreal day in Seattle. The Astros opened up a season-high six-game lead atop the American League West over the A’s.
Houston manager Dusty Baker said he didn’t let visions of Monday’s meltdown get into his head after Toro’s homer.
“We still had a two-run lead and had one of the best pitchers in the world,” Baker said. “You know it’s going good for [the Mariners] when they hit a ball off Tucker’s glove and it’s a home run. You’re trying not to think about it. You’re trying to think about, ‘OK, Press, do your thing.’ They got a couple of hits and had the tying run on base and Press came through again. They played us tough. They never quit.”
Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. allowed four runs and struck out eight batters in six innings, fanning Dylan Moore and Shed Long Jr. to escape a jam in the sixth and preserve an 8-4 lead. McCullers, who threw only seven curveballs in his previous start last Wednesday, threw it 40 times among his 109 pitches on Tuesday.
“After the shattered-bat bloop hit that went through [by Jarred Kelenic for a two-run single in the sixth], I was looking to try to punch these guys out,” McCullers said. “I’m really happy Dusty allowed me to finish and get out of my own mess. The goal is to give your team a chance to win. We were up quite a few runs and I got through six, and we wound up winning the game.”
Baker said McCullers was “excellent.”
“We extended him a little further than we want to, and it was his game,” Baker said. “He came through and got a big strikeout of Moore and he did what we wanted him to do. He did what aces do. I was going to give him one more hitter after he struck out Moore, and one more hitter before the top of the lineup. He buckled down when we needed it.”
While Graveman stayed in Houston’s bullpen because he wasn’t available to pitch, both players the Astros sent to the Mariners got into the game. Toro homered for the third game in a row — he hit homers for Houston on Sunday and Monday — and veteran reliever Joe Smith worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
“It was strange,” Baker said. “You find yourself not really pulling against them, but you’re used to pulling for them. When you saw Joe out there in another uniform, many times over here you wish that Joe had done better, and he said the same thing. Toro, I just expressed to him that he was requested in a lot of trades, but you have to give up something to get something. I wish him well over there, and Joe especially. I told them both, ‘I hope you do great — except against us.’”