There is much on the line in this series and Felix Hernandez (8-11, 5.62 era) took the hill against Gerrit Cole (11-5, 2.71 era) in the opener of a three game series.
The Mariners welcomed the return of a couple familiar faces; Jean Segura returned to the lineup after the birth of his second child and Ben Gamel was back in right field after tearing the cover off the ball in Tacoma.
Felix’s first inning struggles continued as he gave up a home run to Marwin Gonzalez giving Houston a quick one-run lead to start the game.