Cristian Javier twirled seven shutout innings and the Houston Astros scratched across a pair of runs in the fourth inning in their 2-0 victory over the visiting Seattle Mariners on Tuesday.

The Astros improved to 5-1 on their current homestand, mustering enough offense to support another strong outing from Javier (3-0). Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman reached to open the fourth against Seattle starter Marco Gonzales (1-3), with Brantley scoring on a Yordan Alvarez sacrifice fly and Bregman when Kyle Tucker reached on an infield hit with two outs.

Javier produced his third consecutive scoreless outing and extended his consecutive scoreless inning streak to 17. He retired the Mariners in order only twice, in the second and seventh innings, but induced a double-play grounder that concluded the third inning and benefitted from questionable baserunning by Mariners left fielder Sam Haggerty to elude trouble in the fifth.

Haggerty worked a leadoff walk but was subsequently doubled off first base when Tucker ran down a shallow fly ball in right field off the bat of Taylor Trammell and fired a throw to Yuli Gurriel that beat Haggerty to the bag for the second out of the frame. Javier followed by getting a called third strike on Seattle catcher Tom Murphy and then sidestepped another threat in the sixth.

Javier issued a two-out walk to Ty France, bringing Kyle Seager to the plate with the Astros clinging to a two-run lead. Seager was 2-for-2 against Javier, but sent the first pitch of his third plate appearance to center field, where Myles Straw recorded the out to complete the inning.

Javier not only produced a career high in innings pitched, he set a new standard with 107 pitches. He allowed just two hits, both by Seager, and issued three walks with six strikeouts.

Gonzales allowed two runs on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts over six innings. The Mariners dropped their third consecutive game for their first three-game skid of the season.

Astros closer Ryan Pressly earned his third save with an 11-pitch ninth, throwing all strikes.

--Field Level Media