KING FELIX OUT-DUELS KEUCHEL
Saunders Delivers Pinch Hit Walk-Off for M's
SEATTLE, Apr. 21 (AP) - Michael Saunders delivered a two-out walk-off double,
breaking a scoreless tie to give the Seattle Mariners a 1-0 victory over the
Houston Astros at Safeco Field. The dramatic finish made a winner of
Mariners starter Felix Hernandez who fired a complete game two-hit
shutout. Astros starter Dallas Keuchel was the hard luck loser.
Hernandez had struggled in his first two starts, but righted the ship recently,
culminating with his overpowering performance against Houston. Hernandez
struck out nine batters in the game while walking only one.
Hernandez retired the first five hitters he faced before surrendering a two-out
single to Alex Presley in the second. He then set down the next 13 Astros
before finally walking Dexter Fowler to lead off the seventh. Fowler never
advanced past first base. In fact, only one Houston baserunner reached
second. That was Marwin Gonzalez who doubled with two outs in the eighth
but was stranded when Jonathan Villar rolled to second to end the inning.
Keuchel was only modestly less effective, retiring the first eight Mariners he
faced before allowing Brad Miller's two-out third inning single. Abraham
Almnote became the first player in the entire game to reach second base when he
doubled with two outs in the sixth, but was stranded when Dustin Ackley grounded
out to end the inning.
The Mariners finally put two men on base at the same time in the seventh when
Robinson Cano led off with a single and, two outs later, Keuchel hit Stefan
Romero with a pitch, putting runners on first and second. Kyle Seager
flied to left to end the threat.
After Hernandez retired the Astros in order in the top of the ninth, Keuchel
struck out Ackley to open the bottom half of the inning but then allowed a
single to Cano. Astros manager Bo Porter decided, with right-handed
batters due up, to remove the lefty Keuchel in favor of Matt Albers.
Albers induced Corey Hart to roll into a fielder's choice, forcing Cano at
second, but then walked Justin Smoak. Romero was due, but he was lifted in
favor of Saunders who roped a 2-2 offering into the left-center field gap,
scoring Hart to give Seattle the win.
4/21/2014, Hou14-Sea14, Safeco Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2014 Astros 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 1 2014 Mariners 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 0 6 0 Astros AB R H BI AVG Mariners AB R H BI AVG Altuve 2b 4 0 0 0 .408 Almonte,A cf 4 0 1 0 .160 Fowler cf 3 0 0 0 .237 Ackley lf 4 0 1 0 .203 Castro,J c 4 0 0 0 .143 Cano 2b 4 0 2 0 .347 Springer rf 3 0 0 0 .200 Hart dh 4 1 0 0 .132 Krauss 1b 3 0 0 0 .186 Smoak 1b 3 0 0 0 .250 Presley lf 3 0 1 0 .200 Romero rf 2 0 0 0 .217 Dominguez,M dh 3 0 0 0 .304 Saunders,M ph 1 0 1 1 .273 Gonzalez,Ma 3b 3 0 1 0 .125 Seager 3b 3 0 0 0 .267 Villar ss 3 0 0 0 .191 Zunino c 3 0 0 0 .245 29 0 2 0 Miller,B ss 2 0 1 0 .217 Franklin ph 1 0 0 0 .133 31 1 6 1 Astros INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Keuchel L 1-3 8.1 5 1 1 0 7 107 74 2.79 Albers 0.1 1 0 0 1 0 13 7 2.45 8.2 6 1 1 1 7 120 81 Mariners INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Hernandez,F W 1-2 9.0 2 0 0 1 9 106 81 2.80 9.0 2 0 0 1 9 106 81 Sea: Franklin batted for Miller,B in the 8th Franklin moved to ss in the 9th Saunders,M batted for Romero in the 9th 2B-Gonzalez,Ma(1), Almonte,A(3), Saunders,M(2). RBI-Saunders,M(5). K-Altuve, Castro,J 2, Springer 2, Dominguez,M, Gonzalez,Ma, Villar 2, Ackley 2, Hart, Seager, Zunino, Miller,B, Franklin. BB-Fowler, Smoak. HBP-Romero. HB-Keuchel. GWRBI: Saunders,M Temperature: 71, Sky: cloudy, Wind: none. Attendance: 15,968 Game Time: 2:25