Cole pitched seven innings, allowing just one unearned run on five hits as the Houston Astros pulled away to beat the host Seattle Mariners 7-1 Wednesday night at Safeco Field.

Cole (2-0) struck out five, snapping his record-tying streak of 11-plus strikeouts in each of his first three starts of the season. He shares the mark with Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.

The score was tied at 1 going into the seventh inning, when Marwin Gonzalez's two-run single sparked a six-run rally.

The Astros opened the scoring in the second. With two outs, Gonzalez lined the first pitch he saw from Mike Leake (2-1) into left field, and Brian McCann followed with a run-scoring double to left.

The Mariners tied it in the third as Dee Gordon led off with a bunt single and advanced on Cole's throwing error in a bid to get him at first. Gordon reached third on a groundout by Jean Segura and scored when Robinson Cano slapped a single to center past a drawn-in infield.

Seattle nearly took the lead in the fifth, but left fielder Derek Fisher leaped at the wall to take a home run away from Segura to end the inning.

The score remained tied until the top of the seventh.

Josh Reddick led off with a walk and advanced to third on Yuli Gurriel's ground-rule double down the left field line. Gonzalez then lined a two-run single to center.

After a visit to the mound by Mariners pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., McCann doubled to right to end Leake's night.

Evan Gattis hit a shallow fly down the right field line off reliever Nick Vincent, with the Mariners' Mitch Haniger dropping the ball for an error. That allowed Gonzalez to score to make it 4-1.

After Fisher struck out, George Springer doubled to right-center field, scoring two more runs. Springer reached third on an infield single by Jose Altuve and scored on a single to left by Carlos Correa, extending the lead to 7-1 and bringing on reliever James Pazos. The left-hander struck out Reddick and got Gurriel to ground into a forceout to end the inning.

Leake wound up charged with five runs on six hits in six-plus innings.

After losing the opener, the Astros have won the past two nights in the four-game series that concludes Thursday afternoon.

--Field Level Media