Houston Astros top Seattle Mariners

George Springer #4 of the Houston Astros hits a home run in the fifth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Park on July 4, 2016 in Houston, Texas.

(July 4, 2016 - Source: Bob Levey/Getty Images North America)

The Houston Astros (44-39) top the Seattle Mariners (43-40) as they win 2-1 in game one of their three-game series. The victory breaks the tie for second place in the AL West.

Houston took an early lead in the first inning. They loaded the bases with a leadoff double from RF George Springer, a single by 1B Marwin Gonzalez and a one-out walk to SS Carlos Correa. 3B Luis Valbuena followed with a sacrifice flyball and George Springer came home for the 1-0 lead.

Seattle tied the game in the second. 3B Kyle Seager doubled with one out and 1B Dae-Ho Lee’s single drove him in for the equalizer.

George Springer homered with two outs in the fifth inning to regain the lead for the Astros. It was his 19th home run of the season.

The Mariners had a great opportunity to win the game when they loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh inning but were unable to score a run.

CL Will Harris pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn his eighth save of the year. He posts a 0.74 ERA with a 0.87 WHIP this year.

Seattle’s Wade Miley (6-5) pitched 6.2 innings, allowing 7 hits, 2 walks and 2 earned runs while striking out 2. He now has a 5.36 with a 1.40 on the season.

Houston’s Lance McCullers (4-2) worked 7 innings, giving up 5 hits, 1 walk and 1 earned run while fanning 10. His ERA and WHIP improved to 3.57 and 1.57, respectively.

George Springer went 2-for-4 with 2 runs, 1 HR and 1 RBI. He is now batting .263 and has 61 runs, 19 HR and 50 RBI.