Walker exits early with sore foot as Astros beat Seattle 5-2

Walker (4-7, 3.66 ERA) yielded five hits and five runs to the Houston Astros before leaving after four innings with discomfort in his right foot.

The Mariners twice presented Walker with one-run leads but, each time, he quickly squandered the advantage. He walked Leonys Martin and Seth Smith on four pitches each. Robertson was batting. 262 with four home runs, 25 RBIs and 26 runs in 73 games with the Rainiers. “I just happened to have good location on my fastball that day”.

Houston took an early lead in the first inning. His ERA is down to 2.15…Robinson Cano went 1-for-4 and extended his hitting streak against the Astros to 15 games. Valbuena walked immediately following Rasmus’ homer and set the table for Reed, who bashed his second career home run the opposite way to left-center field. Seattle missed another scoring opportunity when Lee grounded into a double play before McCullers retired Adam Lind to end the inning and his day.

“I thought we had them on the ropes there in the seventh inning, bases loaded and nobody out”, Seattle manager Scott Servais said.

After a short coaching visit to the mound, Lee gave the Mariners back-to-back homers for the third time this season with his shot, which also came with two strikes, to get Seattle within one.

However last year’s AL Cy Young Award victor will acknowledge that he’s starting to feel more like himself than he did during his struggles early this season. Walker gave up five runs on five hits, including three home runs, and is on the hook for his eighth loss of the season.

Jose Altuve opened the Houston fourth with an infield single and scored on Colby Rasmus’ two-run homer, a 418-foot drive to right with one out.

Walker said he wasn’t able to use his legs and the ball was staying up in the zone. “I just couldn’t drive it in there”. 3B Kyle Seager doubled with one out and 1B Dae-Ho Lee’s single drove him in for the equalizer.

Hernandez, meanwhile, pitched a simulated game and will soon leave for a rehabilitation assignment.

How effectively he pitches Tuesday night might have more to do with how Walker feels physically than anything the Astros can muster with a game plan. Hernandez has been on the DL with a strained right calf since June 1. But it was far from an average throw. Biles was relieved that it went well and glad she didn’t become part of a blooper reel. Walker is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 23 strikeouts in his last four starts. Walker appeared set to dominate, tearing through the first five batters he faced before Valbuena set the tone for left-handers against Walker.Valbuena bashed a 1-1 pitch into the upper deck in right field to pull the Astros even at 1-1.