After a sleepy loss to the Giants that somewhat dulled an otherwise rosy set of back-to-back series wins, the Mariners will attempt to prove the offensive improvements they’ve shown over the past few weeks have stuck with a long, four-game series against their division rivals, the Houston Astros.
The Astros have been scuffling by their lofty standards this season but have started to regain momentum with a series victory over the Rangers. However, they’ve recently lost José Altuve to an oblique injury and will be without him and fearsome slugger Yordan Álvarez this series. That doesn’t mean Seattle will have an easy path to victory, though—for starters, they’ll have to face the top of the Astros’ rotation this series, including the always-shutdown Framber Valdez.