Marco Gonzales pitched seven strong innings and Adam Frazier had four hits and four RBIs as the Seattle Mariners won their fifth straight home opener and ninth in the past 10 seasons, defeating the Houston Astros 11-1 Friday night.
Eugenio Suarez added a two-run homer in the eighth inning to cap the victory.
Gonzales (1-1) allowed one run on four hits, with no walks and six strikeouts.
The only run the left-hander gave up came in his final inning. With one out in the seventh, reigning American League batting champion Yuli Gurriel doubled into the left-field corner – the ball hitting the chalk on the foul line – and scored on Jose Siri’s two-out, broken-bat single to center.
Frazier led off the bottom of the first by grounding right-hander Jake Odorizzi’s first pitch into right field for a single. Frazier advanced to second on Ty France’s slow roller to shortstop and scored on Jesse Winker’s line-drive single to left.
The Mariners tacked on two runs in the fourth. With two outs, Julio Rodriguez walked and Tom Murphy lined a single to left. Frazier then tripled into the gap in right-center field to make it 3-0.
The Mariners knocked Odorizzi out of the game in the fifth. Winker and Mitch Haniger led off the inning with singles and J.P. Crawford grounded into a force out, putting runners on the corners. Suarez greeted reliever Bryan Abreu with a run-scoring groundout to extend the lead to 4-0.
Odorizzi (0-1) allowed four runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, with three walks and one strikeout.
With one out in the sixth, Murphy walked and Frazier grounded a single to right, with Murphy taking third. France lined a two-run double to left, giving Seattle a 6-0 advantage.
The Mariners scored their three more runs in the seventh. Crawford singled and Suarez walked, with both runners advancing on a balk by Pedro Baez. Jarred Kelenic hit a sacrifice fly to center and, after Murphy walked with two outs, Frazier hit a two-run double off the base of the wall in right field.
Crawford was hit by a pitch with one out in the eighth and Suarez took Ronel Blanco deep to right.
-Field Level Media