September 24 – Bryce Miller pitched seven scoreless innings to defeat the host Houston Astros on Monday, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 6–1 victory that clinched a berth in the American League playoffs.
Jorge Polanco, Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena each had RBI doubles for Seattle (81-76), just 1 1/2 games away from an American League wild card berth. Cal Raleigh and Justin Turner also provided RBIs.
Miller (12-8) had two hits, two walk-offs and five strikeouts, including hitting a runner in the seventh to put the Mariners ahead 2-0.
Troy Taylor homered in the eighth and Edward Bazardo scored in the ninth, giving Seattle a 12–6 win since September 4.
Hunter Brown (11-9) was as miserly as Miller in six innings for Houston (85-72), which will clinch its fourth consecutive AL West title with a win on Monday. The right-hander limited the Mariners to one run on three hits and three walks and struck out eight.
The Astros hold a four-game lead over second-place Seattle in the division with five games remaining, including two games in this three-game series.
The Mariners struck first in the third inning. Josh Rojas and Victor Robles both drew back-to-back one-out walks before Raley hit a two-RBI single.
Rodriguez doubled the lead in the seventh inning with two outs and a run on.
Miller struck out 13 consecutive batters before getting Alex Bregman and Yna Diaz to single in the seventh inning. Both runners advanced to first base on John Singleton’s comebacker to Miller, who searched for third before Singleton got the first out, spoiling a potential double.
Miller got out of trouble by striking out Victor Caratini and Jeremy Pena before Seattle tacked on a single in the eighth inning. Polanco’s RBI double after Turner’s sacrifice fly made it 4–0.
Jason Heyward hit a home run off Taylor in the eighth inning to give Houston the lead, but Houston lost 13–4.
Rodriguez and Arozarena added run-scoring ground-rule doubles in the ninth.
——Visual-level media
