Houston Astros club three home runs as Seattle Mariners lose 7-0 for 15th shutout of season
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 22: Manager Dan Wilson #6 of the Seattle Mariners waits with Cal Raleigh #29 of the Seattle Mariners after arguing a call with umpire Marvin Hudson #51 during the third inning against the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Par (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SEATTLE - The 2026 Seattle Mariners season is ending with a whimper.
With slim playoff hopes still alive entering Tuesday night, the Houston Astros scored four runs on 10 hits off Seattle ace Logan Gilbert, and five pitchers combined to shutout the Mariners in a 7-0 loss. It's the 15th time this season the Mariners have been shutout by an opponent.
A 6-3 loss by the Texas Rangers to the New York Mets prevented the Mariners from being officially eliminated from playoff contention. It's the 15th time this season the Mariners have been shutout by an opponent.
The backstory:
The fact that the Mariners still had any playoff hopes alive on Tuesday night is solely due to the fact the AL West has been abominable this season. The possibility remains that a sub-.500 team will win the division. The Rangers' loss dropped them to 78-79 on the season, leaving all five teams in the AL West below .500.
A team that has not won three consecutive games since mid-July entered Tuesday night needing to effectively win all six of their remaining games and get help from Texas and Houston to salvage a tremendously disappointing campaign. Instead, the loss to Houston was every bit the dud most of the season has been.
The Astros clubbed three home runs off Mariners' pitching as Christian Walker, Isaac Paredes and Yordan Alvarez each homered in the contest. But given Seattle's inability to scratch even one run across the plate, the 1-0 lead after the first inning would have been enough for Houston.
Gilbert allowed the first batters of the game to reach base on four straight singles. Jeremy Peña singled, stole second and scored on an Alvarez single to put Houston ahead. Gilbert danced out of the bases loaded jam to keep the Astros from any more damage in the inning.
However, a three-run home run from Walker in the third inning blew the game open. Gilbert would only make it through four innings before the bullpen took over.
Paredes homered off José Ferrer in the sixth inning, and Alvarez took Carlos Vargas deep in the eighth for a two-run blast to carry the scoring for Houston.
Meanwhile, the Mariners managed four hits in total against Houston. Seattle had runners reach scoring position in the first, second, and fifth innings and were unable to get them home. Miguel Ullola earned the win, pitching the third and fourth innings in relief of starter Christian Javier. Bennett Sousa, A.J. Blubaugh and Logan VanWey combined to pitch the final five scoreless innings for Houston.
Any Mariners' loss or Texas win the rest of the season will eliminate Seattle completely from playoff contention.
The Source: Information in this story comes from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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