The Associated Press
SEATTLE—Thanks to a late rally and help from others, the Houston Astros will go into their final series knowing three more wins will have them playing baseball beyond the final day of the regular season.
A day after being passed in the race for the second AL wild-card spot, the Astros retook control last night with a 7-6 win over the Seattle Mariners.
“Just so many dramatic plays, dramatic at-bats, a lot went right our way,” noted Houston manager A.J. Hinch.
“It wasn’t pretty but at this point I don’t care what it looks like, let’s just get the win,” he reasoned.
Colby Rasmus’ broken-bat RBI single capped Houston’s rally from a three-run deficit, and the bullpen hung on to preserve the lead.
The Astros moved back ahead of the L.A. Angels, who lost 8-7 at home to Oakland.
Houston, now a half-game in front of the Angels, finishes the season with a series beginning tomorrow in Arizona.
“We’ve had to be resilient. We’ve been questioned all year,” Hinch said.
“We’ve had a few streaks that have been less than our best and we’ve come out of it very well each time,” he added.
“I didn’t doubt our character coming into this series and I don’t doubt it now.”
Houston committed as season-high four errors and needed six pitchers to escape Seattle having taken two of three games.
Astros’ relievers Will Harris and Oliver Perez worked through two errors by rookie shortstop Carlos Correa for a scoreless eighth.
Luke Gregerson pitched the ninth for his 31st save—capped when centre-fielder Carlos Gomez caught a line drive by Franklin Gutierrez and doubled pinch-runner James Jones off first base to end the game.
“I’m not one to show a lot of emotion on the mound but I did get pretty fired up when we got him at first base,” Gregerson said.
Trailing 6-3, the Astros got a three-run homer from Chris Carter in the sixth inning to draw even.
Rasmus’ blooper off Danny Farquahar (1-7) over a drawn-in infield scored pinch-runner Jonathan Villar in the seventh to give Houston the lead.
Kyle Seager and Nelson Cruz hit back-to-back homers in the fifth for Seattle.
Seager hit a three-run shot—his 26th of the season and a new career-high.
Cruz followed with his 44th to give Seattle a 6-3 lead, putting him one behind Baltimore’s Chris Davis for the most in the majors.
Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said Cruz’s timing was better.
“He’s been out of whack a little bit,” he noted. “Big guys do that.
“I know that home runs come in bunches and hopefully he’ll get a home run in the next few days,” McClendon added.
Elsewhere in the AL, Kansas City beat Chicago 5-3, Boston topped N.Y. 9-5, and Texas downed Detroit 6-2.
Minnesota split a doubleheader with Cleveland, winning the opener 7-1 but losing the nightcap 10-2.
Tampa Bay beat Miami 6-4 in interleague play.
