LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 05: David Peterson #23 of the New York Mets throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second inning at Dodger Stadium on June 05, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Mets lineup
Francisco Lindor – SS
Luis Robert – CF
Mark Vientos – 1B
Bo Bichette – 3B
Jorge Polanco – DH
Francisco Alvarez – C
Tommy Pham – LF
Marcus Semien – 2B
Tyrone Taylor – RF
David Peterson – LHP
Dodgers lineup
Shohei Ohtani – DH
Kyle Tucker – RF
Will Smith – C
Teoscar Hernández – LF
Freddie Freeman – 1B
Andy Pages – CF
Max Muncy – 3B
Santiago Espinal – 2B
Miguel Rojas – SS
Justin Wrobleski – LHP
Broadcast info
First pitch: 10:10pm EDT TV: SNY Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
First-year Baltimore Orioles manager Craig Albernaz was struck in the face by a foul ball off the bat of his second baseman, Jeremiah Jackson, in the fifth inning of the team's 9-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, April 13 at Camden Yards.
Albernaz, 43, was positioned in his usual spot in Baltimore's first-base dugout when Jackson looped a line drive measured at 70.6 mph off his bat. It struck Albernaz in the side of the face and he was immediately escorted down the tunnel to the Orioles' clubhouse by coaches and players.
Here's video, courtesy of MASN, of the foul ball off Jeremiah Jackson's bat that struck Orioles manager Craig Albernaz. Scary scene. pic.twitter.com/5OjR39MSkH
The ball came up on Albernaz quickly, leaving him virtually helpless to avoid the baseball, though he turned his head and perhaps absorbed a more glancing blow.
Albernaz, the Orioles said, was evaluated on site by the team's medical personnel and returned to the dugout some 45 minutes later. Meanwhile, his team battled back from a six-run deficit to claim the victory.
He did not meet with the media following the game, but bench coach Donnie Ecker told reporters that Albernaz is expected to get a scan but is doing well.
Jackson hit a grand slam one inning after his foul ball struck Albernaz, and the Orioles pulled ahead of the Diamondbacks 8-7 on Pete Alonso's two-run homer in the seventh. Jackson hit his second home run in the eighth.
"It really speaks to what Alby means here and the culture he wants to create," Ecker told reporters. "If it were up to him, he'd be sitting right here. Not surprised to see him (return to the dugout)."
Even after waiting all offseason to find a new club, Tommy Pham didn’t consider hanging up the spikes.
It took him right up until a couple of hours before first pitch on Opening Day, but Pham did finally land himself a deal, rejoining the Mets on a minor league pact.
He spent the past couple of weeks building himself up in the lower levels of the system, but was called upon on Monday to help spark the struggling club.
“Happy to be back, happy to be up here,” Pham said before Monday’s game in Los Angeles. “Still some familiar faces here, lot of smiles on the faces today, so I’m happy that I could provide some sunshine.”
The Mets are hoping that Pham can provide more than just smiles, though.
He’s already been inserted directly into the starting lineup, batting seventh and playing left field, and Carlos Mendoza has heard nothing but good things about his new veteran.
“Competitor, a pro, he goes about his business the right way,” the skipper said Monday. “When word got out, I got a couple of texts from ex-coaches of his telling me how much you’re going to love this guy -- he knows what it takes to play in New York and wants to be a part of it.”
Mendoza expects to mainly use Pham against lefty pitching, but thinks he still feels has a lot to offers this team as a right-handed bat off the bench.
Heading into his 13th MLB season, the 38-year-old certainly agrees.
“Body-wise, I’m in better shape than a lot of guys in the league,” Pham said. “That’s just because of how I work in the offseason -- I signed two weeks ago so I still feel there’s a bit left that I need to handle, but for the most part I’m great.
“I show up. I prepare. I’m just a pro. I know how to play the game, I love the game, that’s what you’re going to get -- one thing I told myself this year is I’m going to go harder because I was thinking I want to leave everything on the table.”
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 13: Josh Naylor #12 of the Seattle Mariners reacts after scoring a two-run home run during the third inning against the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park on April 13, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Maddy Grassy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Coming out of the All-Star Break in 2025, the Seattle Mariners had some juice. They’d faltered from their scalding April-May surge, ceding the division lead to the Houston Astros at the start of June with a brutal 4-13 stretch from May 24-June 11th featuring multiple losses to Houston and dismal sweeps. A crucial, prescient drubbing of the Detroit Tigers to close the first half set the club on better footing, and with increased health from their rotation the club took two of three from Houston to start the back half. Dropping the third game in an 11-3 drubbing was a disappointment, a presumed pitcher’s duel that got away from Hunter Brown and Bryan Woo but remained uncorralled by the M’s bullpen on July 20th, 2025.
Today’s 6-2 M’s victory ensures that that date will remain the most recent time Seattle lost to Houston until at least mid-May. It buries the Astros where the Mariners found themselves at the outset of this four game series: last place in all of MLB. It solidifies what Three Nights in Houston dared us to believe: the center of gravity in the American League West is rooted in the Pacific Northwest.
Houston got their best start of the series from young righty Mike Burrows, whose line belies a reasonable enough performance given his task. Hell or high water, which at least three Astros pitchers are on the injured list with I believe, Burrows would be working deep into this afternoon’s game to save a beleaguered bullpen further indignity. 11 hits, six runs, all but one of which came on beautiful, Canadian moonshots. This was a tactical retreat of a ballgame from the start by the injury-riddled Astros, and while that’s no source of joy, the wins count the same.
That’s especially true for three stars of tonight’s game, which will not account for three of the five Mariners to secure multiple hits on the afternoon. Brendan Donovan, Cal Raleigh, and Julio Rodríguez each notched a pair of knocks, looked good doing it, and boded well for the Vedder Cup to come. Raleigh even gets an honorable mention for the most Lastros moment of the evening, an infield single where nobody decided to get him out. You can almost see the deflated spirit of this bedraggled, dying empire in this resigned miscommunication.
But they take standing positions on this train to the honored, seated standouts: Josh Naylor, George Kirby, and Luke Raley.
Raley’s day was lizard-brain simple. Hit ball, line drive. Hit ball, line drive. Hit ball, hmm, let me consider the panoply of optio-just kidding obviously it’s line drive. The absence of Raley in 2025 was muted by Randy Arozarena’s early fireworks and Dominic Canzone’s late emergence, but this has been an excellent baseball player when healthy, and right now he’s just that. That the game capped with two deep fly balls in the park’s most treacherous gap, where Raley came up just short of a Yordan Alvarez robbery over the weekend, was an added bonus.
For Kirby, things progressed as close to perfection as imaginable against a still-potent offense. The efficiency the 28 year old carved through Houston’s order with allowed him to work 7.2 frames, yielding two runs in one inning that might’ve been mitigated with a bolder backstop to challenge his two-strike breaking ball to Taylor Trammell, reversing what became a leadoff single into a strikeout. As it was, Kirby hounded and pounded Houston with sliders, forcing the aggressive offense into the ground on pitch after pitch. For a pitcher who still worked the upper half of the zone prominently, it was a third straight performance reminiscent of Logan Webb or prime Marcus Stroman more than the fly-ball dependent walk-avoider we – and the league – have come to expect.
The moment of the game for Kirby was, in many ways, one that went poorly. With two outs and a runner on in the 8th, manager Dan Wilson strolled to the mound, apparently to a call from J.P. Crawford to let Kirby remain in. After counseling Kirby, Wilson allowed Kirby, at 94 pitches, one more hitter. It sadly was a four-pitch walk to Alvarez, yielding to Matt Brash to tidy the mess with an Isaac Paredes lineout. The message was well-received postgame, however, with Kirby lamenting his poor command at the end but effusive in his praise and gratitude for the willingness of his manager to hear and adapt to the feedback from his players in the moment. Might it have been adjudicated differently without a four-run lead? Perhaps, but with the stakes slightly lower than the typical M’s-Stros matchup at that stage, the opportunity to give the bullpen extra rest in an off-day-free marathon was taken by Wilson, and unpunished by Houston.
Like his fellow sluggers in the heart of Seattle’s order, Josh Naylor was seeking results to match increasingly encouraging processes. Through the first two weeks of the year, he has made his usual rash of intriguing swing decisions, as well as scalding and just missing several big flies and big hits. With a soft single and a scorched double ahead of him by Cal and Julio, Naylor’s missed connection was found, with help from an added mechanical tweak:
Incredibly, upon his next plate appearance, Burrows offered him an encore, a belt-high heater with no buffs or damage reduction. This big day has been on the horizon for the pride of Mississauga, but Mariners and Astros should know better than anyone that chasing the horizon isn’t a surefire avenue to imminent success. Monday, it was enough to lift Seattle’s ships and send Houston scurrying deeper into the cellar, far from the light of the stars they once knew.
Apr 5, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Fans filtering in to the grass berm in center field before the start of the game between the Houston Astros against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images | Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images
Athletics pitcher Luis Severino gets his first home start of the 2026 season tonight against the Texas Rangers. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Fresh off a three-game sweep of the inter-league rival New York Mets, the A’s return home today for a division series matchup with the Texas Rangers. Not only are the two teams tied for the lead in the American League West, but they are tied for the second-best record in the American League, period!
Tonight, Luis Severino returns to the Sutter Health Park mound for the first time in 2026. He’s made three road starts and has a 0-1 record with a 5.40 ERA. He’s struck out seventeen batters in 13.1 innings. His challenges at home last season were well documented. In nearly an identical number of innings his splits were dramatic; a 3.02 away ERA compared to a 6.01 home ERA, and a 2-9 home record compared to a 6-2 road record. He’ll go up against 36-year-old righty Nathan Eovaldi for the Rangers. Eovaldi is 1-2 with a 7.98 ERA so far in this young season.
Eovaldi will face this lineup for the A’s in West Sac tonight:
The Mets received good news on Clay Holmes on Monday.
Holmes felt normal during his high-intensity bullpen session in the afternoon, and he has officially been deemed good to go for Wednesday's start in the series finale against the Dodgers.
He told reporters at the time that he wasn't too concerned about the issue, though, and expected to go through his normal throwing progression in between outings.
After doing so successfully, Holmes has now officially been cleared to get back out there.
That's certainly encouraging news for the Mets, as Holmes has been one of their most reliable arms in the early-going, pitching to a 1.50 ERA over his first three outings.
New York will hope for more of the same on Wednesday against the Dodgers' two-way star Shohei Ohtani.
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe will begin a minor league rehab assignment on Tuesday with Double-A Somerset.
Manager Aaron Boone said ahead of Monday’s game in The Bronx, the club was still waiting for official clearance from team doctor, Dr. Christopher Ahmad, but with that hurdle cleared, as the Patriots confirmed the assignment, the shortstop will suit up for four games this week.
“Probably three to five innings for the first couple,” Boone said about the plan for Volpe to start in Somerset and then “go from there and build him up kinda like spring training.”
“He’s had over 50 live at-bats [at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa],” he continued, “and has had a lot of work at shortstop getting out on defense. He’s a little ahead of the game from when you would start spring training, probably.
“But that said, we wanna build him smartly, too.”
Volpe, recovering from an arthroscopic labral procedure he underwent in October after playing most of last season with a torn left labrum, struggled during 2025. In 153 games that campaign, he slashed .212/.272/.391 for a .663 OPS (83 wRC+) with 19 homers and 72 RBI.
The manager added that the 24-year-old has done “really well” over the last few months at the team’s complex, which should allow him to “hit the ground running” during this rehab assignment.
“When he first went down to Tampa right after the new year, he almost immediately started making big gains and feeling better,” Boone said, via Bryan Hoch. “I know he’s excited to get back, and I know how he works. He’s taken a ton of at-bats and gotten a ton of reps in the field.”
Volpe’s assignment can last a maximum of 20 days.
Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon next steps unclear
Boone said on Monday that the next steps for the two starters are still being determined.
"Gerrit threw yesterday, three [innings] and 42 [pitches]," Boone said. "Assuming everything goes well this week, he'll go again in five days. Whether that's another live or into a game, that will be determined over the next couple of days."
Rodon, coming off elbow surgery and a hamstring issue that cropped up recently, is also waiting and seeing what to do next after throwing a live batting practice on Monday, the skipper said.
“Looks good. He was three innings, 50 pitches today,” Boone said. “So he’ll go again in five days, whether that’s another live or in a game, not sure yet. He’s doing well.”
Los Angeles, CA - April 10: Pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto #18 of the Los Angeles Dodgers stretches in the outfield prior to a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Texas Rangers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday, April 10, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images) | MediaNews Group via Getty Images
Yoshinobu Yamamoto has completed six innings in all three of his starts so far in 2026, and will try to keep that streak alive in the middle game of the Dodgers’ series against the New York Mets on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.
Fifteen of Yamamoto’s 18 innings this season have been scoreless, fueling his 2.57 ERA and 3.62 xERA to date. He allowed two runs in the fourth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks and in the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians, and a lone tally in the sixth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays. Yamamoto pitched into the seventh in that last start, last Tuesday in Toronto, but didn’t retire any of his two batters faced in the win.
Mets rookie Nolan McLean starts on Tuesday, making his 12th major league start. He has a 2.70 ERA and 1.91 xERA with 20 strikeouts and six walks in 16 2/3 innings.
Mar 27, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ben Casparius (78) reacts in the sixth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
The first two and a half weeks of the season were uncommonly stable for the Dodgers pitching staff, but on Monday they made their first pitching roster move since opening day. Ben Casparius was placed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation before the Dodgers’ series opener against the New York Mets, and Kyle Hurt was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Casparius allowed two runs on a pair of singles and two walks in the seventh inning of Sunday’s loss to the Texas Rangers. On the season he’s allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings for a 9.64 ERA and 6.21 xERA, with four walks and four strikeouts among his 23 batters faced.
Last week, we asked True Blue LA readers which pitcher, among the relievers on the 40-man roster plus the final two non-roster invitees in spring training, they would like to see called up. Hurt was the overwhelming favorite, and now he’s in Los Angeles.
This year with the Comets, Hurt has a 5.79 ERA in six games, having allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings, with eight strikeouts and five walks. He last pitched last Thursday, making Hurt a certified fresh arm for a bullpen that used four pitchers to cover the final five innings of the series finale against Texas.
There’s stupid money — and then there’s whatever this is.
The Mets travel to Dodger Stadium to take on the back-to-back reigning World Series champion Dodgers for a three-game series this week—and with it arrives something the sport has never seen before: a combined payroll tab for both teams that clears $1.09 billion.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani at bat against the Washington Nationals during the seventh inning at Nationals Park. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Without further ado, we give you the billion dollar series.
Let’s start with the visiting Mets.
The quintessential example of what happens when wealth meets urgency.
Since buying the Mets in the fall of 2020, owner Steve Cohen has spent money like time is chasing him. The franchise hasn’t won a World Series in 40 years. Since taking over he’s poured money into the roster. The payroll has ballooned and the expectations have followed.
In Cohen’s five years as owner, the results have been uneven at best. Just two playoff appearances over that span and not a single NL East division title. Last season, equipped with the second-highest payroll in the league, they finished 83-79, collapsing to the finish line, eliminated on the final day of the season.
The Mets payroll this year is over $380 million with an estimated tax of $136 million-plus. That’s a total of over $516 million for a team that is currently dead last in the NL East.
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is on the field during batting practice before a game against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Queens, NY. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
Meanwhile, the Dodgers are what happens when wealth and vision meet in the middle.
They don’t just spend money — they optimize.
Their 2026 CBT payroll number of $413.5 million isn’t reckless; it’s engineered. Los Angeles has won 12 division titles in 13 years. Five World Series appearances in nine years. Three championships in six seasons. They currently have the best record in baseball. They are a money printing and title clinching machine.
Owner Mark Walter, the CEO of Guggenheim Partners, runs a privately held global financial services firm worth more than $345 billion. The Dodgers payroll alone this season is more than the White Sox, Rays, Guardians and Marlins combined. Their estimated tax bill this season of $169 million is higher than the total payroll of 12 different MLB teams.
Los Angeles Dodgers Owner and Chairman Mark Walter looks on before game one of the National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on October 13, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Getty Images
Both owners have spent on the biggest names in baseball over the last six years. Shohei Ohtani signed with the Dodgers for $700 million. Juan Soto beat that record with a $765 million deal.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 2025 World Series MVP was snatched up for $325 million. Not to be outdone, Cohen inked Francisco Lindor to a $341 million deal.
This winter, Cohen and Walter were involved in a bidding war for the services of free agent All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker. The Dodgers won, signing him to a four-year, $240 million contract that earned him the highest AAV deal in history at $57 million, after factoring in deferrals.
What did Cohen do in response? He signed the next best free agent on the market, infielder Bo Bichette to a three-year, $126 million deal that was the fourth-largest AAV deal in history.
When the first-pitch is thrown on Monday, remember what this series is really about. The most expensive matchup in MLB history will not just be about the overpriced stars on the field, but a case study in how money behaves under pressure.
New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto reacts after scoring a run on an RBI double hit by infielder Bo Bichette against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park. Robert Edwards-Imagn Images
The Dodgers have turned dollars into dominance.
The Mets are still searching for the right financial equation.
In baseball, money can buy you stars.
It just can’t buy you what the Dodgers have.
Not yet, anyway.
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 12: (L-R) Jakob Junis #16 and Danny Jansen #9 of the Texas Rangers celebrate a 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on April 12, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Season Record: 8-7
Week Record: 4-2
Series Record: 3-2
GAME 10: 2-1 WIN VS SEATTLE MARINERS
GAME 11: 3-2 WIN VS SEATTLE MARINERS
GAME 12: 3-0 WIN VS SEATTLE MARINERS
GAME 13: 7-8 LOSS @ LOS ANGELES DODGERS
GAME 14: 3-6 LOSS @ LOS ANGELES DODGERS
GAME 15: 5-2 WIN @ LOS ANGELES DODGERS
The Rangers had a much better week with a sweep of the Mariners at home and preventing a sweep by the Dodgers on the road.
As I said last week while it’s too early to really scoreboard watch, it should be noted the Rangers are back on top of the division (tied with the Ahtletics who they start a four game series against tonight.) while Seattle just completed a four game sweep of the Houston Astros who are on an eight game losing streak and now in last place in the west.
Texas was still swing happy, especially against the Dodgers, but in Sunday’s game they also showed patience, walking 10 times. A good takeaway from the Dodgers series, other than them not getting swept, is all three games were fairly close. The back-to-back reigning World Series champs didn’t blow the Rangers out of the water and with Texas now three games into a 10-game-in-10-days roadtrip, taking one of three feels good.
The other takeaway I got from Sunday’s game was the Rangers use of ABS challenges. They don’t seem to be very confident to challenge as hitters, however on Sunday, Danny Jansen challenged five times and won four of them. Before that, the Rangers only had six challenges as fielders. Three of the challenges changed the outcome of the at-bat to a strikeout.
It’ll be interesting to see if Jansen just had an excellent understanding of the strike zone in this particular game, he also walked three times, or if this is just the beginning of seeing Jansen’s confidence throughout the season and the bigger influence he can have behind the plate.
I’m going to go ahead and knock on wood before I say this next observation. *pause to knock* Texas seems to have a new closer in Jakob Junis. This week he had three save opportunities and and got all three, two against Seattle and Sunday’s win against the Dodgers. In those three innings, he’s walked one and hit a batter but he has yet to allow a hit.
It’ll be interesting to see if Skip continues to use him as a closer (I don’t know why he wouldn’t because why mess with something that’s working) or if this is a move for the time being to get Chris Martin and Robert Garcia in less high leverage situations, get more confidence, and then move them back to later innings.
Before this week, Junis has two saves in seven opportunities in his career.
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - APRIL 1: Matthew Liberatore #32 of the St. Louis Cardinals delivers a pitch against the New York Mets at Busch Stadium on April 1, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The St. Louis Cardinals will welcome the Cleveland Guardians to town on Monday, April 13. According to MLB.com, Matthew Liberatore will start for the Cardinals while the starter for the Guardians will be Gavin Williams who is 1-1 with a 2.04 ERA so far in 2026. Masyn Winn is back in the lineup tonight.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 11: Brandon Nimmo #24 of the Texas Rangers reacts after hitting a two-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium on April 11, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Texas Rangers lineup for April 13, 2026 against the A’s: starting pitchers are Nathan Eovaldi for the Rangers and Luis Severino for the A’s.
Texas begins a series against the Athletics of California, with whom they are tied for first place in the American League West. Wyatt Langford, who left Friday’s game due to a quad issue, is still out.
The lineup:
Nimmo — RF
Carter — CF
Seager — SS
Burger — 1B
Pederson — DH
Higashioka — C
Smith — 2B
Jung — 3B
Duran — LF
8:40 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -130 favorites.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 04: Yainer Diaz #21 of the Houston Astros bats against the Athletics in the top of the third inning at Sutter Health Park on April 04, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The 6-2 defeat at T-Mobile Park completed a 4-game sweep by the Mariners, the first time they have swept the Astros in a 4 game series since August 2018.
Two things have hallmarked this season for the Houston Astros thus far: injuries and pitching woes. Both were on display this afternoon when the Astros fell to the Mariners 6-2 at T-Mobile Park. The loss concluded a 4-game sweep by the Mariners and extended the Astros losing streak to 8 games. Houston went 1-9 on it’s 10 game road trip that included Sacramento (Athletics) and Colorado.
Before the game today, the Astros placed both SS Jeremy Pena (10-day) and SP Tatsuya Imai (15-day) on the IL. They optioned reliever Jayden Murray to Triple A. The recalled SP J.P. France, SP Colton Gordon and UT Shay Whitcomb from Triple A as well.
Then in the first inning, SP Mike Burrows, who looked incredible all spring, continued his regular season struggles. He allowed a 3-run homer to struggling Josh Naylor, who entered the game hitting just .102 this season with a .197 OBP and a .299 OPS, in the first inning to put Houston in an early hole.
Burrows threw a 95.8 MPH fastball right down the middle that Naylor hit for his first HR of the season 365 feet to right centerfield.
It didn’t get any better the second time he faced Naylor in the 3rd inning either.
Naylor would take Burrows deep again, on a nearly identical pitch in nearly the identical spot. A 95.6 MPH fastball, just slightly to the outside of the middle of the plate, and mid-thigh, that Naylor blasted 111.5 MPH and 433 feet to center for his second homer of the season to make it 5-0.
The Astros would try to claw back in the top of the fifth. Cam Smith led off with a single to right, followed by a single to left by Taylor Trammell. With 2 on and no out, Yainer Diaz laced an RBI single to center to get the Astros on the board, scoring Smith. Trammell would score when Nick Allen bounced into a double play to make it 5-2. That is as close as the Astros would get.
In the bottom of the fifth, Luke Raley would get a run back for Seattle with an RBI single to score Julio Rodriguez to make it a 6-2 game.
While J.P France held the line in the 7th and 8th innings, the Astros offense could not respond any further on this day.
While before today’s game the Astros listed all 3 starters for the upcoming series at home against Colorado as TBD, Colton Gordon will get the start for Houston tomorrow.
