SEATTLE -- A comfortable getaway day stroll turned into a Wednesday afternoon to forget in the span of two innings at T-Mobile Park for the Astros, who lost 7-6 in walk-off fashion to drop their three-game set against the Mariners.
Houston led 5-0 in the middle of the eighth inning after Cam Smith rocketed a 110.6 mph single up the middle and came around to score on a Yordan Alvarez sac fly, but from there things went downhill for the bullpen.
Luis Contreras, who had gotten Houston out of a jam in the bottom of the seventh, got into one in the eighth, loading the bases before being pulled in favor of Steven Okert. Okert -- pitching the day after earning his first save of the season to cap the Astros¡¯ dramatic 12-inning win -- got two quick outs to get the Astros nearly back into the dugout, but Randy Arozarena cranked a grand slam to get the Mariners on the board and back in the game in one swing.
The Astros brought in an insurance run in the top of the ninth, but Bryan Abreu gave up a game-tying double to Julio Rodr¨ªguez with the bases loaded in the bottom of the frame, then walked Arozarena with two outs to end it.
¡°Our bullpen has been really, really good the whole entire first 10 games of the season,¡± Astros manager Joe Espada said. ¡°It was one of those games, stuff happens.¡±
The ending nixed what had been the Astros¡¯ best start to a game since Opening Day.
Hunter Brown put down his third consecutive quality start to begin the year, tossing six scoreless innings and allowing just two doubles -- both of which came with two outs and were immediately followed by inning-ending strikeouts.
Through three outings this season, Brown boasts a 2.00 ERA -- best among the Astros' rotation -- with four earned runs allowed in 18 innings and with a 0.78 WHIP.
¡°He just continues to build and build more confidence,¡± Espada said.
Houston¡¯s starters in Seattle -- Hayden Wesneski on Monday, Framber Valdez on Tuesday and Brown -- combined to allow two earned runs on seven hits and one walk in 19 innings, with 16 strikeouts.
On the flip side, the Astros offense -- which needed 12 innings to score its second run Tuesday -- looked like it had broken things open with a three-spot in the second, off back-to-back-to-back two-out RBI singles from Jake Meyers, Smith and Jose Altuve.
Smith, Houston¡¯s No. 1 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, finished the day 2-for-4 with a run scored and another driven in, a day after logging his first career RBI.
¡°He¡¯s getting better and better,¡± Espada said. ¡°Hitting balls the other way. He got a sinker that he hit hard to center; that pitch was kind of in and he stayed inside of it nice. He¡¯d been hitting those balls mostly to right, but to see him get the barrel out is a good sign.¡±
Altuve and Isaac Paredes both added two-hit days at the top of the Houston lineup.
But once Brown left, the Houston bullpen, whose 2.53 combined ERA and 1.03 WHIP coming into the day both ranked sixth-best in the Majors, ran into trouble.
Bennett Sousa -- who was called up Tuesday afternoon following the trade that sent Rafael Montero to Atlanta, but didn¡¯t arrive until just before first pitch Wednesday -- struck out the first batter he faced but walked the next two, before getting pulled in favor of Contreras.
As a unit, Sousa, Contreras, Okert and Abreu combined to allow five hits and six walks while only recording eight outs, a day after the Astros bullpen walked a tightrope for six scoreless innings.
¡°These guys are going to have to get big outs for us, and they¡¯ve been doing that,¡± Espada said. ¡°Today was just not our day.¡±