5 Reasons for Houston Astros’ Series Victory vs. Seattle Mariners

5 Reason the Houston Astros Second Series Victory

The Houston Astros won their second series of the season against the Seattle Mariners today. Many things factored into this series win for the Astros. As much as I would like to say Robbie Grossman was the reason for it, he wasn’t. He did, however, have a really nice Major League debut in the rubber match of this series. I am expecting big things from this kid, and I really hope he can deliver.

Winning a series really comes down to a bunch of different things matching up, and the Astros played really well on all cylinders, at least in the last two games anyways.

In the first game, it was all Mariners. Felix Hernandez completely dominated the Astros hitters, and picked up his 100th win of his career. The Astros had a chance to take advantage of the Mariners hitters, and truly did just that.

Like I said, many things factor into winning a series. You have to pitch well, play defense, hit the ball and many more. The Astros did just that in the last two games of this series.

Now that this series is over, the Astros move their focus onto their next road trip, and more specifically, the Boston Red Sox. Before I move my focus, I would like to look at this series more in depth, and pick out the reason why the Astros won this series. It is really simple, they just played better baseball. But what were the exact reasons? Well, I will tell you.

Reason 5: Defense

The Astros have been awesome on defense so far this season, and in the last two games, they really stepped up and played well. Bud Norris and Lucas Harrell really relied on their defense to make plays for them, and they did just that. Had this been the defense, or team for that matter, from last year, I am not sure they could handle to the ground balls like this defense does.

Reason 4: Starting Pitching

Outside of the first game, the Astros starting pitching was a real key for this team. The Astros starting pitchers have had some problems, and for Norris and Harrell to come in and pick up back to back wins was huge. Those two helped save a depleted bullpen. If it weren’t for those guys, this series may have turned out differently.

Reason 3: The Bullpen

As much as I have hated on the Astros bullpen, they actually showed up this series. A couple guys played a big role in this. Jose Cisnero made his Major League debut on Monday, though it was a loss, he helped preserve the bullpen by pitching a few innings, and was able to give guys a day off. Jose Veras also played a nice role by shutting down the ninth inning of last night’s victory and earning his second save.

Reason 2: Patience At the Plate

While the Astros continue to strike out at an alarming pace, they’re now starting to make the pitchers work, and run up their pitch counts. It may not happen early, but starting around the third inning, the Astros really make pitchers work. They get their counts, and take advantage. Against the Mariners on Tuesday, the Astros had the most hits against Hisashi Iwakuma this season. He struck out eleven batters, but he also walked three, and ended up with a loss. In the rubber match, the Astros really made Joe Saunders work, and ran him out of the ball game early.

Reason 1: The Long Ball

The Astros, like I said, really took advantage of Joe Saunders, and ran him out of the game early today. A big part of that was the Astros just smashing the baseball today. The Astros hit three home runs, two off of Saunders, and two of the three run variety. One of the long balls off of Saunders was a mammoth solo shot from Chris Carter. The Astros biggest upside is power, and we got a first hand look at that.