Cal Raleigh's ninth-inning homer saves Mariners in 5-4 victory over Astros

HOUSTON — Cal Raleigh to the rescue.

The Mariners slugging catcher hit a missile out to the short-porch Crawford Boxes off Astros closer Josh Hader in the top of the ninth inning, and the Mariners stiff-armed the mystic of Minute Maid Park one more time in an anxious 5-4 victory Sunday afternoon.

Andres Muñoz closed out the ninth, and the Mariners (19-15) improved 8-2 in their last 10 games at Minute Maid Park, a place that had tormented them for so long.

In their first series of the season, the Mariners took two of three from their hated AL Wests rivals, strengthening their lead atop the division while pushing the Astros (12-22) 10 games under .500.

Raleigh hit his team-leading eighth homer of the season on an 0-2 fastball from Hader, and he didn’t miss it. It had an exit velocity of 109.2 mph and left the yard in a hurry.

Luis Urias delivered a clutch run-scoring single in the eighth inning, driving in Dylan Moore from second base with a headfirst slide home.

That tied the score at 4-4 after Bryce Miller and the Mariners had blown a 3-0 lead in the sixth.

Luke Raley hit his first homer as a Mariner — a towering blast to right field in the sixth inning — and Josh Rojas had three hits to continue his hot hitting of late.

Bryce Miller was cruising early, allowing only two infield singles through five scoreless innings.

But in the sixth inning, Miller left a sweeper over the plate to Kyle Tucker, who hit it out to right field for a two-run homer to get the Astros within 3-2.

In the seventh, Miller left another sweeper out for Jon Singleton, who also pulled it out to deep right field to give the Astros a 4-3 lead.

The Mariners have won six straight series.

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