Three observations from Mariners’ series loss in Houston

An otherwise strong road trip ended on a sour note for the Seattle Mariners this weekend in Houston.

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The Mariners had their run of seven straight road series win snapped by the Astros as they dropped three of four games to their division rivals.

All in all, a 6-4 road trip was a solid result for the M’s and they’re still 1 1/2 games ahead of Houston for first place in the American League West. But finishing by losing three of four against the Astros certainly stings.

Here are three observations from the series.

Astros still aren’t going away

With cornerstone players Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman departing Houston in the offseason, there was some wonder as to if this was finally the season the Astros would relinquish their stranglehold on the AL West.

The four-game set was a reminder that Houston is still a force to be reckoned with, even with slugger Yordan Álvarez sidelined with an injury.

The Astros seemed to have somehow instantly improved from the Tucker trade, which netted Isaac Paredes and Cam Smith. Tucker is having an excellent season with the Cubs, but Paredes and Smith have each been good themselves. Those two went a combined 12 for 32 with four multi-hit games, one home run, four RBIs and six runs scored in the series.

And the Mariners got a taste of what’s been the Astros greatest strength this year – their bullpen. The unit surrendered just three runs over 16 1/3 innings, a massive factor in this series.

Offense stalling out

Putting runs on the board early often leads to success, but that wasn’t the case for the Mariners as they struggled to play add on in Houston.

The M’s scored first in three times and plated a run by the third inning in each game, yet they scored more than three runs only once and walked away with a single victory due the lineup stalling out after showing signs of life early. All four runs Seattle scored after the third inning came in one game – Friday’s come-from-behind 5-3 win.

Some of the M’s not being able to score later in games could be attributed to Houston’s strong bullpen, which ranks first in the AL with a 2.75 ERA. But the Mariners need to be able to tack on, especially against good teams like the Astros.

Castillo grinds, shows one big positive

Luis Castillo admirably grinded through six innings on Sunday, tossing 114 pitches while striking out six and allowing three runs on nine hits and one walk. It was far from his best performance in a Mariners uniform, but the veteran right-hander showed a rather encouraging sign with his velocity noticeably up in Houston.

His four-seam fastball averaged 96.4 mph (1.6 mph above his season average), his sinker averaged 95.8 mph (up 1.1 mph) and his slider averaged 86.2 mph (up 1.9 mph).

The 32 year old’s velocity has steadily declined since the M’s acquired him in a trade with the Reds in 2022 (when his fastballs averaged 97 mph), which has led to the thought that he may need to adjust his pitching style to having lesser stuff.

But perhaps Castillo is finding a way to tap back into the plus velocity he’s showed through much of his MLB career. It’s certainly possible that, at an older age, he just needs a little more time to ramp up the velo.

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