A memorable night for Jose Altuve came amid a forgettable loss for the Astros, who fell 10-3 to the visiting Mariners on Saturday.
Altuve picked up his 2,000th career hit with a fifth-inning single at Minute Maid Park. It offered a highlight in a game most of them didn’t have for the Astros. The Mariners chased Framber Valdez after five innings and collected 17 hits while closing in on the Astros in the division. Houston is 2.5 games behind the first-place Rangers; Seattle now has four.
Altuve wasn’t the only player to have a historic night, either. Julio Rodríguez, the Mariners’ second-year center fielder, had four hits, giving him 17 in his last four games. That set a new MLB record for hits by a player during a four-game stretch, surpassing the mark that had stood since 1925.
Every Mariners starter had a hit, and six drove in a run. Ten of their hits came against Valdez, who gave up six runs in five innings. Solo home runs by Alex Bregman, Yainer Diaz and Mauricio Dubón rounded out the Astros’ scoring.
Frustration for Valdez boiled over in the fifth. Dylan Moore drove a sinker for a two-out, two-run home run to right center. Thrown a new ball, Valdez dropped it and laid it on the infield grass. When he threw another pitch, his 96 mph sinker hit José Caballero in the left leg.
Caballero emerged and took a few steps toward Valdez, raising his arms in question. Valdez held his ear and began walking toward Caballero as umpire Bruce Dreckman and catcher Martín Maldonado moved between them.
Both banks were cleared. Mariners players Rodríguez and Eugenio Suárez were among the first to reach Valdez. Rodríguez hugged Valdez and sent him out of the scrum. No punches were exchanged. Astros manager Dusty Baker appeared angry and yelled in Caballero’s direction near home plate before the teams returned to their dugouts. The umpires issued warnings to both benches.
When the game resumed, Caballero broke into second on Valdez’s first pitch. Valdez singled to first base, but Caballero beat Diaz’s relay to second. Valdez retired Cade Marlowe on a flyout to end the inning. This marked his last pitch of the game.
| Seattle | Houston | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||||
| Total | 42 | 10 | 17 | 9 | Total | 36 | 3 | 11 | 3 | ||
| Rodríguez cf | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | Altube 2b | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Suarez 3b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Bregman 3b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| T.France 1b | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Alvarez dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Hernández dh | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | McCormick rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Raleigh c | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Diaz 1b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Moore 2b | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | Dubón lf | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||
| Caballero ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Peña ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Marlowe lf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Hensley Ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Haggerty rf | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Meyers cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Julks ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| Maldonado c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Singleton ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seattle | 112 | 020 | 022 | — | 10 |
| Houston | 001 | 100 | 001 | — | 3 |
E_Suárez (6), Meyers (4). DP_Seattle 2, Houston 2. LOB_Seattle 9, Houston 7. 2B_Hernández 2 (25), Meyers (15), Diaz (17), Julks (14). 3B_Marlowe (2). HR_Moore 2 (7), Haggerty (1), Bregman (20), Diaz (17), Dubón (6). SB_Rodríguez (33), Caballero (23).
| 6 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
HBP_Valdez (Caballero), Stanek (T.France).
Umpires_Home, Bruce Dreckman; First, Stu Scheuwater; Second, Mark Wegner; Third, Alex MacKay.
T_2:53. A_38,280 (41,000).
Valdez struggled
Valdez allowed a season-high 10 hits and matched his season high with six runs allowed. It continues to be a confusing stretch for the Astros ace. In his last seven starts, Valdez has a 6.18 ERA. That includes a game where he no-hit the Cleveland Guardians.
The sailors hitter on him. They put 18 balls against Valdez with an average exit velocity of 96.6 mph. Moore’s home run was the ninth Valdez has allowed in his last seven outings. Valdez gave up 11 home runs overall last season.
Some close games cost Valdez. With two outs in the second inning, Marlowe sent a drive to right center. Jake Meyers chased it down, reached as it neared the wall and flicked the ball into his glove. Caballero scored from first base.
Valdez struck out his first two batters in the third. After Ty France singled, Teoscar Hernández hit a sinking liner to left. Dubón dived for it and appeared to get his glove under him as he rolled. The ball is lost. Meyers bobbled it and France scored from the first.
Valdez threw 35 pitches in the third and struck out 88 in his five innings. After entering the All-Star break with the lowest ERA among qualified starters, at 2.51, Valdez now owns a 3.55 ERA on the season.
No. 2,000 for Altuve
Altuve entered Saturday two hits shy of 2,000. He lined Logan Gilbert’s first pitch of the game into left field for a single. Gilbert struck out Altuve in his second at-bat leading off the third inning.
Altuve came up again to open the fifth. Gilbert made a 2-2 count against him. Altuve drew a splitter foul, then lined another into the left field corner. He was thrown out trying for second base but achieved elite success in the swing.
Altuve is the third player to record 2,000 hits with the Astros, joining Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. He was the fastest of the three to reach the mark, doing so in his 1,631st regular-season game, and the fastest to do so in the majors since Michael Young had his 2,000th hit in his 1,621st game in 2011.
Altuve also singled in the seventh inning for career hit No. 2,001, with a line drive off the left field scoreboard. Altuve returned to first base, but this time, he returned to the bag.
History for Rodríguez
Much like Altuve’s anticipated season, Rodríguez achieved even more exclusive company.
Rodríguez went 13-for-16 in his last three games with at least four hits in each. Only one player in MLB history has recorded four consecutive games with four or more hits, Milt Stock of the Brooklyn Robins in 1925. Stock holds the record for most hits in four game span with 16.
Rodríguez singled in the first, fourth, sixth and eighth innings to set a new MLB record with 17 hits in a four-game span.