Pressly, Astros shut the door on Mariners in tight game

Prior to tonight's game, Ryan Pressly was 1/3 in save opportunities, and his most recent appearance in a game against the San Francisco Giants resulted in another game the Astros lost due to poor clutch pitching. It was their seventh loss attributed to a blown save on the season, easily the most in the major leagues.

Today, however, in a tight one-run ballgame heading into the ninth inning, Pressly rebounded and had as easy an inning as one could hope for as a closer, requiring only eight pitches to retire the top of the Mariners' lineup and secure the 2-1 victory for the Astros on Saturday.

It was a low-scoring affair for the Astros' offense on the evening, but it was Cristian Javier who kept the Mariners off the board early. After striking out the side in the first inning, Javier would go on to face the minimum through four innings, and one over the minimum through five.

Part of his low batter count was thanks in part to stellar defense playing behind him, which turned two double plays on the day.

Though he struggled with command a bit on the night (he only threw 48 of his 88 pitches for strikes, and threw first-pitch strikes to only five of the nineteen batters he faced), Javier was exceptional once again, rebounding after a tough last start in Oakland and ending his evening with a line of 6.0 IP, only one hit allowed, zero runs, three walks, and five strikeouts.

He didn't receive much support from the offense, but it was just enough to keep the team afloat in the game. A José Altuve RBI groundout with one out would manage to score Yordan Álvarez from third in the bottom of the second inning, but the team wouldn't manage to force across much more against Seattle starter Nick Margevicius.

Margevicius' one mistake would be a solo blast given up to Yuli Gurriel in the fifth inning.

Seattle's one run would score on a solo home run from Evan White off reliever Brooks Raley. No runs would come across for Houston in the eighth, so it would be up to reliever Ryan Pressly to shut the door to end the game -- a task that had proven difficult for Astros relievers.

Despite past issues, however, Pressly would dominate the top of Mariners with efficiency and quickness. He struck out J.P. Crawford on three pitches, made Dylan Moore flyout on two, and struck Kyle Lewis out on three pitches. All of his eight pitches were strikes.

With the win, Houston moves to an even 10-10, and is currently on a three game winning streak. They'll go for the sweep against Seattle tomorrow afternoon with Lance McCullers Jr. on the mound, who came off a stellar outing against San Francisco. He'll face Seattle lefty Justus Sheffield at 1 PM CT.