HOUSTON (AP) — Dominic Canzone hit his first career grand slam and Randy Arozarena went 4 for 4 with a homer and three RBIs to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 10-2 rout of the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
Canzone drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth to set his career high with five RBIs. Arozarena, who doubled twice, tied a career high with his four hits and the three RBIs tied his season best.
It’s Seattle’s ninth straight win over the Astros, which extends a franchise record.
The Mariners jumped on Tatsuya Imai (1-1) for five hits and six runs in just four innings as his struggles continued in his return after sitting out more than a month with arm fatigue.
Imai has a 9.24 ERA in four starts after signing a three-year, $54 million contract with the Astros following eight professional seasons in Japan.
The game was tied to start the fourth when Imai hit Arozarena and Luke Raley with pitches before walking J.P. Crawford to load the bases. Canzone sent Imai’s next pitch into the seats in right field to put Seattle on top 6-2.
Seattle’s Cal Raleigh singled in the seventh to snap a 0-for-38 slump, which was the longest hitless streak in the majors this season. He scored on a double by Arozarena that made it 8-2 and added another single in the ninth inning.
Mariners starter Bryan Woo (3-2) allowed four hits and two runs with nine strikeouts in six innings for the win.
Christian Walker and Braden Shewmake both drove in a run for the Astros, who dropped their fourth straight game.
Raleigh walked to open the second inning before Arozarena homered off the wall in left field to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.
Zach Dezenzo hit a one-out double in the bottom of the inning and Shewmake’s single cut the lead to 2-1.
Woo walked Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez with no outs in the third before the Astros tied it on a one-out RBI double by Walker.
Up next
RHP Bryce Miller will come off the injured list to make his season debut on Wednesday night after recovering from a strained left oblique. RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (2-3, 7.41 ERA) will start for Houston.
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Cal Raleigh tried a full-uniform shower. The next night, his bat finally woke up
HOUSTON (AP) — Cal Raleigh was desperate to shake things up while mired in the longest hitless streak in the majors this season.
So on the advice of pitcher Logan Gilbert, Seattle’s star catcher showered in full uniform after Monday night’s game.
And on Tuesday night, things went his way for the first time all month as he snapped an 0-for-38 slump with two singles in a 10-2 rout of the Houston Astros.
“Logan gave me some good advice to wash off the bad mojo or juju from the baseball gods,” Raleigh said. “So yeah, it worked. He was right, so I got to give him credit where credit’s due.”
Raleigh’s hit in the seventh inning was his first since April 27. He was 0 for 2 with a walk Tuesday when he connected off Jayden Murray with one out in the inning.
Last year’s AL MVP runner-up raised his arms high above his head and smiled toward the dugout after he reached first base following the line drive to center field. Many in the Seattle dugout cheered after he got the hit.
But his first emotion wasn’t elation or even relief when he connected.
“I was kind of just like rolling my eyes because I knew everybody was going to be making a big deal about it,” Raleigh said with a laugh. “But yeah, it felt good to barrel one up.”
He scored on a double by Randy Arozarena that made it 8-2 and got plenty of high-fives and handshakes after returning to the dugout.
“We were all screaming for him and it was a lot of relief for sure and I know it felt good for Cal,” manager Dan Wilson said.
Despite his initial thought, Raleigh was glad to see his teammates so happy to see him end the slump.
“It was fun,” he said. “It was kind of at the point where… people are starting to (be) like: ‘Oh, like, it’s not good.’ But it was great to see everybody smile and have a good time with it.”
He said being able to laugh about his struggles with his teammates helped him deal with this adversity.
“We can make fun of it and we can do those things and guys can laugh at their own mistakes a little bit and keep it lighthearted around here and have fun,” he said. “And it’s ultimately when we’re playing our best.”
Raleigh added a second single with one out in the ninth.
“Those were both really well hit, really well struck, and the at-bats have been good,” Wilson said. “So I think he’s really found something and built on it and I look forward to seeing that as we go.”
Raleigh’s first single came an inning after he was shaken up when a foul tip by Christian Walker hit him between the legs.
He led the American League with a Seattle-record 60 home runs and 125 RBIs last season. But he’s batting just .166 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs in 40 games this year.
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