Runs have been a little hard to come by for the Houston Astros early this season. A big sixth inning on Tuesday might have gotten the offense going.

"We did seem to swing the bat a lot better," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said after his team beat the Mariners 7-5 at Safeco Field in Seattle. "Especially with two outs and nobody on, we ended up getting six straight baserunners, with a couple of walks in there and a couple of fortunate hits.

"We have a good offense. Obviously, we haven't gotten on track yet, but it was a much better showing by our lineup, in quality of at-bats."

Evan Gattis came off the bench in the sixth inning to hit a three-run double, and the Astros quelled Seattle's ninth-inning rally to secure the win.

Gattis hit a line drive off the outstretched glove of Mariners right fielder Mitch Haniger, who almost made a spectacular play.

"I think Mitch would say it's a fly ball he comes up with most times," Seattle manager Scott Servais said of Haniger's diving attempt. "Great effort. He went after it like he should with the game on the line. He just didn't come up with it."

Later in the inning, a single by Alex Bregman drove in pinch runner Jake Marisnick to make it 6-3.

After Houston added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, Mike Freeman walked and Taylor Motter doubled off Astros reliever Ken Giles to give Seattle runners at second and third with no outs in the bottom of the inning.

Freeman scored on a wild pitch, and Motter came home when Robinson Cano grounded into a fielder's choice. But Seattle's next batter, Nelson Cruz, flied out to center to end it.

Houston's George Springer hit a leadoff home run for the fourth time this season. He is the first player in major league history with four leadoff home runs in his team's first nine games.

"I was just looking for something to hit hard," Springer told the Houston Chronicle. "You can't really think anything else. Just got to hit the ball hard and whatever happens happens."

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve told the Chronicle, "For me, Springer is not only one of the best players on this team, he's one of the best players in the league. What can I say? He does it all."

Houston starter Joe Musgrove (1-0) got the win. The right-hander allowed three runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

"He did a good job," Hinch said. "He continues to throw the ball well. He commits his pitches and he battles and does everything that you ask. ... All in all, Joe had a really quality outing."

Seattle starter Ariel Miranda (0-1) gave up four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He tired in the sixth inning, and he left the game with a 3-2 lead.

"We had some chances to probably score a few more runs than we did tonight," Servais said. "I thought Miranda did a good job to keep us right there. He just lost his concentration a little during the sixth. The two walks ended up hurting."

Springer's homer, on the game's first pitch, put the Astros up 1-0. Houston made in 2-0 in the third when Josh Reddick scored on Jose Altuve's single.

Seattle answered in the bottom half with three straight hits.

After Jarrod Dyson reached on an infield single, Haniger doubled to left and Dyson scored after it appeared he would stop at third. The Mariners tied it when Haniger scored on Cano's single.

Seattle took a 3-2 lead in the fifth when Carlos Ruiz scored on Dyson's sacrifice fly.

Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel went 3-for-4 to double his season hit total. Gurriel entered the game mired in a 3-for-24 slump.

Motter, starting in place of injured shortstop Jean Segura, was 3-for-4 to raise his average to .300.

NOTES: The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Astros manager A.J. Hinch was at the top of Stanford's list as the school looks for a new baseball coach. Hinch, a two-time Pac-10 player of the year and a 1996 Stanford graduate, downplayed the report. "I want to be the Astros' manager here for a really long time," Hinch said, "and while it's flattering when your name gets bantered around at a place that's very special, it's really a non-story." ... Houston RF Josh Reddick batted ninth, his first time at the bottom of the order since May 2014. ... Seattle placed SS Jean Segura (strained right hamstring) on the 10-day disabled list. The team called up INF Mike Freeman from Triple-A Tacoma. Freeman was 4-for-12 in three games with the Rainiers this season.