HOUSTON – When he came to Seattle before the 2019 season, he was considered by many in Major League Baseball an underachieving prospect who couldn’t stay healthy with an attitude problem. The Mariners believed that a new team, a chance to be an every-day player and the freedom to be himself, would unlock his talent and turn him into a foundation piece of their rebuild.
In reality, J.P. Crawford needed the Mariners as much they needed him. That relationship will now take them back to the postseason for the second time together.
On Sunday night with a national TV audience watching on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, the Mariners’ longest tenured player moved them a major step closer to winning the organization’s first American League West title since 2001.
Crawford’s grand slam off Astros starter Jason Alexander highlighted a seven-run second inning that set the tone in Seattle’s eventual 7-3 victory.
In perhaps their biggest regular-season series in the past five seasons, the Mariners (87-69) strolled into Minute Maid, er, Daikin Park and swept the Astros the three-game series.
With the sweep, the Mariners’ magic number to win the AL West is down to three games. Any time Seattle wins a game or Houston loses a game, the number is trimmed by one. Mathematically, the Mariners could clinch as early as Wednesday at T-Mobile Park vs. the Rockies.
Meanwhile the Astros, who have won the division seven of the last eight seasons, are teetering on the edge of making the postseason. They are on the outside looking in on the postseason. They are tied with the Guardians for the third wild card spot, but Cleveland holds the tiebreaker.
The second started off rather innocently on another smart play from Josh Naylor. With Astros third baseman Carlos Correa playing deep and away from the third base line, Naylor executed a perfect bunt on the first pitch –a sinker away from Alexander – dropping it on the edge of the grass of the third base line. There was no play to make on it.
Jorge Polanco followed with an infield single, hustling out a slow bouncing ball to second.
When Eugenio Suarez hit a screaming line drive to right field, the Mariners had loaded the bases with no outs.
In seasons past, the failure to capitalize on such situations in Houston seemed almost given. When Correa was able to knock down Dom Canzone’s hard line drive and fire it home to get Naylor for a force out at home, the Astros and Alexander were one pitch away from getting out of the inning with a double play.
But Alexander wouldn’t record another out in the inning.
Victor Robles wouldn’t give in to pitches looking to induce a groundball, working a walk to force in the first run of the game.
It brought Crawford to the plate with the bases loaded. He has flourished in those situations over his career, adopting a philosophy from Kyle Seager when it came to hitting with runners on every base – “all the pressure is on the pitcher.”
Coming into the game, he had a .365/.375/.716 slash line with seven doubles, two triples, five homers, 81 RBI, six walks and 15 strikeouts in 88 career plate appearances with the bases loaded.
After watching a sinker down the middle for a first-pitch strike and swinging and missing at changeup away, Crawford was in an early hole.
But …
“All the pressure is on the pitcher.”
Crawford didn’t chase a second straight changeup down in the dirt.
“All the pressure is on the pitcher.”
Alexader tried to a breaking ball that was supposed to go from the bottom of the strike zone to the dirt. Instead, it hung in the middle of the plate with minimal spin. Crawford pounced on it, ripping a towering fly ball to right field. He didn’t move from the box immediately, taking a few steps and staring at the ball as it carried over the wall and 10 rows deep.
His sixth career grand slam gave the Mariners a 5-0 lead.
But the Mariners weren’t done. Less than 24 hours earlier, thy had a 6-0 lead that was erased with a grand slam from Jeremy Pena.
Randy Arozarena followed a single, ending an 0-for-21 stretch to keep the inning going. Cal Raleigh continued his march toward 60 homers, yanking a 1-0 changeup over the wall in right field for No. 58 on the season.
When Julio Rodriguez followed with a single to center, Astros manager Joe Espada mercifully ended Alexnader’s outing.
His pitching line: 1 1/3 innings pitched, seven runs allowed on seven hits with a walk and one strikeout. Alexander’s replacement, Enyel De Los Santos retired the next two hitters to end the inning.
But the damage had been done.
Gilbert, who has traditionally not received great run support in his outings, came out with a shutdown bottom of the second after being given a big lead.
With the Mariners’ leverage relievers heavily used, Gilbert gave the Mariners a quality start, working six innings and allowing one run on three hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
His lone run came in the third when rookie Zach Cole took advantage of a hanging slider and hit a solo homer to right field.