Mariners bats silent again for second straight game

HOUSTON, TX - Brian McCann's focus this offseason was finding a way to hit more balls to the opposite field like he used to earlier in his career.  On Tuesday night against the Mariners it paid off when he got his first hit with the Astros on an opposite field home run that helped Houston to a 2-1 win.

"A lot of work went into this offseason with my swing to be able to do that," he said. "Over the last two years I'd just become a dead pull hitter and I put a lot of hours in the cage for that swing right there. I was waiting for it to translate into a real game ... so it was nice for it to pay off tonight."

Marwin Gonzalez added a solo homer to back a solid start by Lance McCullers and give the Astros their second straight victory over Seattle to start the season.

McCann's homer off Hisashi Iwakuma (0-1) put Houston up 1-0 in the third inning, and Gonzalez broke a 1-all tie with his solo shot to left-center in the sixth inning.

McCullers (1-0), slowed by injuries for chunks of last season, allowed one run and five hits while fanning seven in six innings. It was his first start since August 2 after he missed the last two months of last year with an elbow injury.

"I felt really good most of the start. I felt pretty locked in," he said. "I thought I was working the fastball pretty good. The curveball mix was pretty good. I mixed in a couple changeups along the way, so it was good."

Will Harris pitched a perfect seventh, Luke Gregerson allowed one hit in the eighth and Ken Giles finished with a one-hit ninth for his second save.

Danny Valencia had two hits and drove in a run, the Mariners' only one in two games against the Astros.

"We couldn't string any good at bats together, and their pitching has been very good," manager Scott Servais said. "We chased some balls out of the strike zone and have gotten away from controlling the zone a little bit."

Gonzalez is 12 for 27 with two homers and four RBIs against Iwakuma, who allowed both runs, four hits and three walks in six innings. He didn't allow a hit until McCann's homer to left field.

Mitch Haniger doubled to start the fourth inning before McCullers intentionally walked Kyle Seager with two outs. An RBI single by Danny Valencia tied it and Leonys Martin reached on an error by Gonzalez at first, loading the bases, but Mike Zunino grounded out.

Jarrod Dyson hit an inning-ending groundout with two on in the sixth.