Astros win opening series with Mariners behind surprise pitching performance

If you had 24 year-old right hander Brandon Bielak coming in and stabilizing an Astros pitching staff that's gone through as rough a 24-hour period as any, you might want to try your hand at the lottery.

Bielak's 3 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and only two earned runs scored were enough to keep Seattle at bay, with the Astros driving home eight runs en route to an 8-5 victory over the Mariners to take the opening series.

The box score didn't do the first few innings justice -- despite two scoreless innings, starter Josh James struggled throughout the entire duration of his outing. It was unfortunately what the Astros have come to expect out of James; high velocity and great stuff (he had five strikeouts on the day), hindered by poor command (he walked five). After walking the bases loaded in the top of the third with no outs, he was gifted with a double play that scored one before giving up a bomb to Evan White, which capped a three-run inning for the visiting Mariners. That poor inning would end James's day.

Luckily for the Astros, the lineup started to tee off of opposing pitcher Kendall Graveman. After Kyle Tucker and newcomer Dustin Garneau both reached base, José Altuve would drive in the former with a double that dribbled into left field.

Alex Bregman would then drive in Tucker, Altuve, and himself with a three-run blast into left field. It was Bregman's 100th home run of his career.

Bielak would make his major league debut in the fourth inning, reliving James and pitching a clean 1-2-3 inning. He would be rewarded for his effort by Dustin Garneau, who stroked a triple that scored Kyle Tucker from first.

After another clean inning, the Astros would score three more times, the first run coming by way of a José Altuve solo shot. It was his first of the year.

Michael Brantley and Josh Reddick both hit RBI doubles later in the inning to stretch the lead to 8-3. The Mariners would add two more runs, but that would be all for the game and the series.

Bielak earned the win in his debut, a major achievement for a player called up hours before the game's start. His call-up was a part of the transaction that officially sent Justin Verlander to the IL. Roberto Osuna came on in the ninth and earned the save, his first of season.

The Astros currently are tied with the Oakland Athletics at the top of the AL West standings after opening weekend. Their next game will be a two-game set against the NL West Los Angeles Dodgers.