Astros stick around; WC race gets packed

SEATTLE — Thanks to a strong outing by Mike Fiers and a timely hit by Yulieski Gurriel, the Astros elevated themselves back into the thick of the American League Wild Card chase on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over the Mariners at Safeco Field.

Fiers fired six scoreless innings of three-hit ball and Gurriel laced a two-run single off Mariners lefty James Paxton in the sixth as Houston won its third straight game and pulled into a three-way tie with Seattle and Detroit at 78-70, three games back of the Orioles and Blue Jays, the Wild Card leaders.

“We needed all the good pitching we could get, based on how their guy was throwing,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “It was another good outing by our starters, and if we can get that, we’re a pretty interesting team. We usually find a way. I like the tone our starters have set the last couple of days.”

After winning eight straight games, the Mariners have dropped the first two games of the series and are 5-10 against their AL West rivals with four meetings between the clubs remaining in the final 14 games of the season.

“Coming into the game, I thought if we could hold them to two runs, we’d be in pretty good shape,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais. “But their guy threw the ball very well. Give him some credit. And our guys were a little anxious. I think you could see that.”

Paxton had a perfect game for five innings before giving up three hits in the sixth — a leadoff single by Teoscar Hernandez, a double by Tyler White and Gurriel’s two-out single to left. The 27-year-old Canadian finished having allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings, but fell to 4-7 with a 3.88 ERA.

“At one point, you get a little bit nervous when you get to the middle part of the game and we hadn’t had a baserunner,” Hinch said. “We’d only had one three-ball count, which I think was in the fifth inning with Marwin. We just had to wait him out to get a good pitch.”

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDOn Fiers: Fiers followed up seven scoreless innings by Collin McHugh in Friday’s series opener by throwing six scoreless innings without allowing a runner to reach third base. It’s the first time …

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