The Seattle Mariners have leaned on their exceptional pitching staff to overcome a rocky start to the season, and the opening game of their four-game series against the Houston Astros showcased that strength once again.
Seattle secured a 3-1 road victory on Monday, powered by a combined effort from five pitchers who tallied 13 strikeouts against just three walks. The Mariners entered the series leading Major League Baseball in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.48) and have now recorded 358 strikeouts against 102 walks through 42 games.
The win extended Seattle’s winning streak over the Astros to eight games—the longest in the history of the American League West rivalry. The Mariners will aim to make it nine in a row on Tuesday night in Houston.
“There’s always a little elevated meaning to playing here,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “There’s a lot of history that we’ve had here with these two teams.”
Right-hander Bryan Woo (2-2, 4.02 ERA) is slated to start for the Mariners on Tuesday. After allowing 13 combined runs over nine innings in two no-decisions, Woo bounced back with six shutout innings against the Atlanta Braves in his last outing, allowing one hit, two walks, and a season-high nine strikeouts. That marked his sixth start with one or fewer hits and five-plus innings since the start of last season, tying Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the most in the majors during that span.
Woo holds a 2-2 record with a 2.83 ERA in five career starts against the Astros. In his most recent matchup against them on September 19, 2025, he allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out seven over five scoreless innings in a 4-0 win.
The Astros are expected to reinstate right-hander Tatsuya Imai (1-0, 7.27 ERA) from the injured list to start on Tuesday. Imai was placed on the 15-day IL on April 12 with right arm fatigue. In his previous start on April 10 against the Mariners, he recorded only one out, allowing three runs on one hit and four walks in a 9-6 loss.
Signed as a free agent from Japan during the offseason, Imai earned his only win of the season on April 4 against the Athletics, allowing three hits and three walks with nine strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings in an 11-0 victory. Tuesday will mark his second career appearance against Seattle and his fourth start against an AL West opponent.
With four of five AL West teams sitting below .500 entering Monday, the Astros began a seven-game homestand with a chance to climb back into contention, despite starting the series against the Mariners tied for last place with the Los Angeles Angels. After facing the Mariners, Houston will host the Texas Rangers for three games over the weekend. Texas trails the first-place Athletics by 2 1/2 games and holds a 3 1/2-game lead over the Astros, who remain far from out of the race despite early struggles. The Astros have made the playoffs in eight of the past nine seasons.
“If we play well this week, we can try to move up in the standings,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “This is a team that we know very, very well. I think our team knows the importance of this series and the next one.”
