Josh Naylor (2 HRs, 5 RBIs) powers M’s to sweep of Astros

Josh Naylor hit two home runs — his first two extra-base hits of the season — and drove in five runs as the host Seattle Mariners completed a four-game sweep of the American League West rival Houston Astros with a 6-2 victory Monday afternoon.

George Kirby (2-2) pitched 7 2/3 innings for the victory, allowing two runs on seven hits. The right-hander walked one and struck out six.

Astros right-hander Mike Burrows (1-3) gave up six runs on 11 hits over six innings, with one walk and three strikeouts.

Naylor, signed to a five-year, $92.5 million contract in the offseason, entered the game batting .102 with an on-base plus slugging percentage of just .299. He went deep in his first two plate appearances.

In the first inning, Cal Raleigh singled to left field with one out and Julio Rodriguez doubled off the glove of third baseman Carlos Correa. Naylor hit an 0-1 fastball from Burrows just over the fence in right-center to make it 3-0.

In the third, Raleigh led off with an infield single and, an out later, Naylor launched a first-pitch fastball 433 feet to center field for a 5-0 lead.

The Astros, who have lost eight in a row and went 1-9 on their 10-game trip that also included stops in West Sacramento, Calif., to face the Athletics and also Colorado, got two runs back in the fifth.

Cam Smith led off with a line-drive single to right, Taylor Trammell grounded a single to left and Yanier Diaz lined a run-scoring single to center. The second run scored as Kirby got Nick Allen, filling in after All-Star shortstop Jeremy Pena was placed on the 10-day injured list earlier in the day with a right hamstring strain, to ground into a double play.

Rodriguez led off the bottom of the inning by lining a single to left and scored on Luke Raley’s two-out grounder into right field to make it 6-2.

The Astros also placed right-hander Tatsuya Imai on the 15-day IL with arm fatigue, their third starting pitcher to go on the list in the past week.

–Field Level Media