The Seattle Mariners effectively have shared the offensive load thus far this season, with one of their recent acquisitions playing a key role in their 6-5, rubber-match win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.

Right fielder Leody Taveras, claimed off waivers by the Mariners from the Texas Rangers on May 6, clubbed a go-ahead, two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning to lift Seattle to victory. It marked his first homer with the Mariners, who won their seventh consecutive road series and will open a four-game road set against the Houston Astros on Thursday.

Seattle improved to 5-1 on its current 10-game road trip and extended its lead over the Astros in the American League West to 3 1/2 games.

“The goal is to go there and keep winning,” Taveras said.

Right-hander George Kirby (14-11, 3.53 ERA in 2024) will make his season debut for the Mariners on Thursday. Kirby landed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation on March 27 and made three rehab starts in the run-up to his return to the active roster. He will be on a limit of 80 pitches.

Kirby led the majors with 33 starts last season while working a career-high 191 innings and posting a career-best 179 strikeouts. He also led the majors in 2024 by averaging 1.1 walks per nine innings and recording 7.78 strikeouts per walk.

Kirby is 3-0 with a 1.55 ERA over seven career starts against the Astros. His final start of last season came in Houston on Sept. 25, where Kirby allowed one run on four hits and one walk with six strikeouts over six innings in an 8-1 victory.

Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. (0-1, 7.88 ERA) will start the series opener for the Astros.

He did not factor into the decision of his previous start, a 6-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday, after allowing two unearned runs on four hits and one walk with two strikeouts over four innings. It marked the third start of the season for McCullers, whose season debut on May 4 was his first appearance since the 2022 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies because of arm surgery.

McCullers is 10-3 with a 2.80 ERA over 18 career starts against the Mariners.

The Astros will open a season-long 10-game homestand against Seattle and have a 15-9 record at Daikin Park.

Houston manager Joe Espada needed contributions from high-leverage relievers Bryan King, Bryan Abreu and closer Josh Hader to nail down back-to-back one-run victories earlier this week.

With those options exhausted, the Astros dropped the final two games of their three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays when Steven Okert and Kaleb Ort allowed three runs over the final two innings on Tuesday before Forrest Whitley, fresh off reinstatement from the 15-day injured list, surrendered a three-run homer in the eighth inning of an 8-4 loss on Wednesday.

The Houston bullpen entered the series finale leading the majors in opponent batting average (.194) and opponent OPS (.582). Moving forward, the Astros will need consistency from their lower-leverage options.

“We need all these guys to step up and give us meaningful innings,” Espada said. “They’ve been good the whole, entire year.”

–Field Level Media

“We’ve got a big series ahead of us. We’ll move forward here.”