ASTROS GAMER: Houston opens second half with victory

After a strong finish to the first half of the season, the Houston Astros returned from the All-Star break to the Pacific Northwest to face their division opponent, the Seattle Mariners.

HOW DID IT HAPPEN:

Houston opened the scoring in the third with a double by Trey Cabbage before Jose Altuve reached base on a bunt, then a throwing error allowed Cabbage to score for the game’s first run. Later in the inning, Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez walked before Yainer Diaz hit a two-run single to make it 3-0.

Seattle tried to respond in the bottom half by loading the bases, but Hunter Brown was able to get out of trouble and keep the Mariners off the board.

Brown continued to have a strong outing, pitching six scoreless innings with four hits, three walks and five strikeouts on the night to get the Astros off to a good start to the weekend.

Bryan Abreu, Ryan Pressley and Josh Hader were able to come in and close out the win, sealing the first game with a final score of 3-0.

LARGE NUMBER: 2

A pair of Mariners errors allowed the Astros to score runs and take a 3-0 lead after the third inning.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Hunter Brown

The Astros’ young pitcher had a good first outing after the All-Star break, throwing six scoreless innings with five strikeouts.

UP NEXT: Houston and Seattle will meet again for Game 2 of the series with first pitch scheduled for 8:40 p.m. The action can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles with the pregame starting at 8:10 p.m.