Seattle Mariners host AL West rival Astros: 3 things to know

The Seattle Mariners have been in the unique position this season of looking down on the perennial power of the Houston Astros in the AL West standings.

While Seattle spent the first two months battling with the Texas Rangers for first place in the division, the Astros stumbled to a stunning 12-24 start. At one point, the Mariners led Houston by 8.5 games.

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But suddenly the Astros are back in the mix. Houston got back into contention by winning 12 of its last 17 games, while Seattle is coming off a 4-6 East Coast road trip and Texas stumbled on a 3-12 streak. The first-place Mariners extended their lead over the Rangers to three games, but their advantage over Houston shrank to just 3.5 games.

The Mariners and Astros open a four-game series Monday night in Seattle, which marks the second of four series between the AL West rivals this season. Earlier this month, the M’s won two of Houston’s three games at Minute Maid Park. With the Astros coming to town, here are three things to know.

Injuries at the start of the rotation

At the center of Houston’s early season struggles is a starting rotation that has been decimated by injury issues and problems at guard. Astros starters rank 27th in the majors in ERA (5.09), 30th in WHIP (1.48) and 25th in opponents’ batting average (.259).

Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander missed the first three weeks of the season with shoulder inflammation. Framber Valdez, a two-time All-Star, was out for three weeks in April with elbow inflammation. Cristian Javier missed nearly a month with neck discomfort and now has forearm discomfort, which prevented him from throwing his scheduled bullpen session on Sunday, according to Matt Kawahara from the Houston Chronicle. This could cast doubt on Javier’s planned departure on Tuesday evening.

Additionally, the last spot or two in Houston’s rotation have been a disaster. Hunter Brown has a 7.06 ERA, rookie Spencer Arrighetti has a 6.93 ERA and JP France has a 7.46 ERA before being sent to Triple-A.

Valdez is expected to start the series opener on Monday and Verlander is expected to start the series finale on Thursday, but the Mariners are expected to have favorable matchups in the other two games with Javier’s start in question on Tuesday and Brown expected to Wednesday. Seattle also gets a break by dodging 30-year-old Ronel Blanco, who has a 1.99 ERA in nine starts during a stellar third season. Blanco started Sunday after returning from a 10-game suspension for having a foreign substance in his glove and will therefore not be available to pitch in Seattle.

Tucker leads the way offensively

The Astros rank 10th in the majors in scoring at 4.6 runs per game, but they rank top five in most other major offensive categories. They rank first in batting average (.264), fifth in on-base percentage (.330), fourth in slugging percentage (.421), fourth in OPS (.751) and tied for fifth in home runs (. 64).

Two-time All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker led the way, with a torrid start that puts him alongside New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge as the favorite for AL MVP. Tucker, 27, has an MLB-leading 18 home runs, including 11 homers in his last 23 games. He also ranks second in slugging percentage (.624), second in OPS (1.033) and fourth in on-base percentage, trailing Judge by slim margins in all three categories. Tucker was just 1 for 10 with a home run in the three-game series against Seattle earlier this month, but don’t expect those kinds of numbers to happen again this week.

Tucker is one of four Astros in the AL’s top 25 in OPS, along with second baseman Jose Altuve (.821), shortstop Jeremy Peña (.803) and outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (.799). Alvarez’s numbers are down a bit from his supernatural stats the past two seasons, but he remains a massive threat in the heart of Houston’s order – as the Mariners know all too well. Third baseman Alex Bregman, however, is having the worst start of his career. The two-time All-Star is batting just .210 with a .601 OPS, nearly 250 points below his career average.

Hot and cold enclosure

The Astros bullpen has been a major problem early in the season. Through May 8, Houston relievers ranked 24th in ERA (4.71) and 27th in WHIP (1.42). Since then, however, the unit has been among the majors’ best. The Astros have a 1.60 ERA, the best in MLB since May 9, which is 0.73 better than the next closest team. They also have a 0.95 WHIP over that span, which ranks second in the majors.

The most dramatic turnaround in Houston’s bullpen belongs to five-time All-Star closer Josh Hader, who signed a five-year, $95 million contract with the Astros in free agency last offseason . Hader struggled to a 6.14 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in his first 15 relief appearances this season, which included giving up a game-clinching home run against Cal Raleigh in the ninth inning of Seattle’s 5-4 victory in the May 5 series finale in Houston. But after this outing, Hader regained his usual dominance. The powerful southpaw has allowed just one run, two hits and two walks in 9 1/3 innings since May 9, while striking out 14 of the 32 batters he’s faced during that stretch. .

The first pitch Monday evening will take place at 6:40 p.m. You can listen to all the action on Seattle Sports at 7:10 a.m. or on the Seattle Sports app.

Learn more about the Seattle Mariners

• Drayer: How the Mariners are trying to find more consistency at the plate
• Drayer: How Mariners pulling Gilbert shows bigger picture
• Watch: Mariners CF Julio Rodríguez scored in second straight game.
• Sailors recover key replacement from injured list
• Seattle Mariners starters have some of the nastiest new pitches in MLB

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