SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 10: JP Crawford #3 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates the two-run home run hit by Randy Arozarena #56 during the fifth inning against the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park on April 10, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Jack Compton / Getty Images)
SEATTLE - The Seattle Mariners took advantage of a struggling Houston Astros pitching staff to snap out an offensive slump and end a five-game losing streak in a 9-6 victory on Friday night.
The Mariners chased Houston starter Tatsuya Imai in the first inning after facing just seven batters, and Randy Arozarena's two-run home run in the fifth inning gave Seattle a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Imai was out of control from the start for the Astros as their pitching staff combined to walk 10 batters with two wild pitches and two hit batters throughout the game.
Imai issued back-to-back walks to J.P. Crawford and Cal Raleigh to open the game, and an infield single from Julio Rodríguez loaded the bases with no outs. A wild pitch from Imai got behind catcher Christian Vazquez as Crawford raced home for a 1-0 Mariners lead.
Another walk to Josh Naylor loaded the bases again before Imai hit Randy Arozarena with a pitch to score Raleigh for a 2-0 lead. Rodríguez scored on an RBI groundout to second base from Luke Raley that gave Seattle a 3-0 advantage as Arozarena avoided a tag from Isaac Paredes to stay out of a double play.
Imai walked Cole Young for his fourth base on balls in seven batters faced, which brought the end of his outing for Houston as Joe Espada turned to the bullpen. Imai allowed three runs on just one hit with four walks, a wild pitch and a hit batter while recording just one out.
Steven Okert replaced Imai on the mound and got the Astros out of the jam, striking out Dominic Canzone and getting Leo Rivas to pop out to shortstop. Okert pitched 1 ⅔ scoreless innings in relief of Imai for Houston.
Houston answered with three runs of their own in the second to tie the game.
The Astros loaded the bases with no outs behind singles from Paredes and Carlos Correa, and a walk to Christian Walker. Hancock nearly got out of dodge unscathed as Rivas made a diving catch to rob Cam Smith, and Hancock struck out Joey Loperfido for a pair of outs. However, Christhan Vazquez managed to keep a fastball off the inside of the plate fair down the third baseline as all three runners raced around to score.
It would be the only runs Hancock allowed over five innings for Seattle as he allowed just four hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
A 426-foot blast from Arozarena into the upper deck in left field off Ryan Weiss put Seattle back in front. After a lead-off single from Josh Naylor, Arozarena hit a missile into the night that gave the Mariners a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning.
Houston walked three consecutive batters between Weiss and J.P. France later in the inning, but France managed to keep the Mariners from adding more to the lead for the moment.
France hit Raley with a pitch to open the seventh inning and the outing spiraled on him from there.
Young singled to put runners on the corners before Dominic Canzone doubled to the wall in right-center field to make it a 6-3 Seattle lead. A wild pitch from France scored Young, and a walk to Rivas loaded the bases once again. J.P. Crawford singled to center to score Canzone, and an RBI groundout from Raleigh scored Rivas for a 9-3 lead.
The Astros quickly cut the lead in half in the eighth inning against Seattle reliever Cole Wilcox. A pair of sharp singles from Vazquez and Jeremy Peña was followed by a three-run blast to right field from Yordan Alvarez to make it a 9-6 game. After Wilcox hit Paredes with one out, Matt Brash replaced him on the mound and got Walker to ground into his second double play of the night to keep the lead at three.
Andrés Muñoz issued a pair of two-out walks in the ninth inning to bring Peña to the plate as the tying run, but Peña grounded out to third to end the game and the losing streak.
What's next:
The Mariners and Astros played the second game of their four-game series on Saturday night at 6:40 p.m.
RHP Luis Castillo (0-0, 2.79 ERA) will make his third start of the season for the Mariners, and RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (1-0, 3.27 ERA) will get the ball for Houston.
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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