Mariners down Astros, stand alone atop AL West
Sep 19, 2025, 8:07 PM | Updated: Sep 20, 2025, 4:26 pm
The Seattle Mariners took a big step towards winning one of the biggest regular-season series in franchise history.
Seattle Mariners 4, Houston Astros 0: Box Score
The M’s used four solo home runs and stellar display from their pitching staff to take the opening game of a three-game set in Houston against the Astros 4-0.
Julio Rodríguez started the home run barrage with a solo shot in the first inning of Houston starter Hunter Brown. Eugenio Suárez, Victor Robles and Josh Naylor each tacked on homers for insurance.
Starter Bryan Woo earned his 15th win of the season while striking out seven and allowing only one hit and one walk over five shutout innings. But the right-hander was pulled at just 67 pitches after being met by manager Dan Wilson and trainers on the mound following his warmup pitches for the bottom of the sixth. No immediate update on Woo’s status was available.
With the win, Seattle (85-69) took over sole possession of first place in the American League West over Houston and moved one win away from clinching their season series and a tiebreaker over their division rival. Seattle is 6-5 against the Astros this year with two games left between the teams.
This is the latest the Mariners have been alone in first place in their division since 2001.
Seattle also pulled even with the Detroit Tigers for the No. 2 seed in the AL playoffs, which comes with first-round bye and homefield advantage in the division series. The Tigers fell 10-1 to the Atlanta Braves on Friday four their fourth straight loss. Seattle holds the tiebreaker over Detroit via a 4-2 record in the season series.
Per PlayoffMagic.com, the Mariners’ “magic number” to clinch the American League West over the Houston Astros is eight, meaning any combination of eight Mariners wins or Astros losses.
Seattle’s magic number to clinch a playoff berth over the first team out of the playoffs, the Cleveland Guardians, is down six.
More on the Seattle Mariners
• Lefko: Franchise-defining moment awaits the Mariners
• How Seattle Mariners, Astros match up on mound for key series
• Canzone’s breakout a key to first-place Mariners’ success
• Salk: This year’s Seattle Mariners are showing something different
• Mariners return to first place in AL West, close in on first-round bye
