Major League Baseball

Altuve paces Astros past Seattle 7-4

Published Apr. 28, 2016 2:50 a.m. ET

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SEATTLE (AP) - Jose Altuve opened the game with his third leadoff homer of the season, doubled twice and scored three runs to help the Houston Astros avoid a sweep with a 7-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.

Evan Gattis added three RBIs for Houston with a sacrifice fly and bases-loaded double.

Robinson Cano and Adam Lind had solo homers for Seattle, which earlier in the day announced a pending ownership shift from majority owner Nintendo of America to the team's minority owners.

Both starters labored through five innings. Houston's Collin McHugh (2-3) allowed two runs and five hits with one walk, but needed 101 pitches. Hisashi Iwakuma (0-3) allowed five runs and seven hits with two walks on 93 pitches.

The Astros bunched four straight one-out hits for two runs in the third to go up 3-1. Consecutive doubles by Jason Castro and Altuve accounted for the first run, and George Springer and Carlos Correa followed with singles.

Seattle answered in the bottom half on a double by Seth Smith and RBI single by Cano.

Houston made it 5-2 in the fifth on a bases-loaded single by Colby Rasmus and Gattis' sacrifice fly.

Lind, who hit 20 homers last season with Milwaukee, hit his first this year in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-3.

Gattis drove in two more in the seventh with a double off the wall in center field to increase the lead to 7-3.

Seattle added a run in the ninth on Cano's RBI groundout.

Altuve staked Houston to a 1-0 lead, lining a 2-0 pitch over the wall in left for his sixth home run.

Cano, who had a grand slam and six RBIs in Tuesday's 11-1 victory, got the run back in the bottom half with his eighth homer, a two-out solo shot to right.

TRAINING ROOM:

Astros: RHP Lance McCullers, who opened the season on the 15-day DL with soreness in his right shoulder, threw 45 pitches in three innings in an extended spring training game on Wednesday and could be close to a rehab assignment. ''He felt really good, was very encouraged by his outing, which is a good sign,'' manager A.J. Hinch said. ''We are going to see how he feels tomorrow, but ideally, we would then send him out to an affiliate, either AA or AAA.'' ... CF Carlos Gomez was removed in the fourth after being hit on the right hand by a pitch. The team said X-rays were negative and Gomez was day to day with a contusion.

Mariners: OF Norichika Aoki, who had appeared in each of the first 20 games, was held out of the starting lineup. ''He's a high-energy guy, so sometimes you give him a blow,'' manager Scott Servais said. ''With the off day tomorrow, it's almost like two days to kind of regroup and recharge the batteries and get him back in.''

UPON FURTHER REVIEW:

With two outs and one aboard in the fifth, a towering fly down the right-field line by Smith was ruled foul. The call was upheld after a crew chief review estimated at 1 minute and 49 seconds.

UP NEXT:

Astros: Houston resumes its six-game road trip on Friday with the opener of a three-game series at Oakland. RHP Mike Fiers (2-1, 5.73 ERA) makes his fifth start. He has walked just three in his last four starts.

Mariners: After an off day Thursday, Seattle opens a three-game series at home against Kansas City. RHP Felix Hernandez (1-2, 1.80 ERA) makes his fifth start. He is 4-5 with a 3.01 ERA in 12 career starts against the Royals.

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