Seattle at Houston

Houston improved to 52-17 at home with a wild 13-inning win over the Mariners on Thursday. Michael Brantley hit a two-run walk-off homer after Seattle had blown a 7-0 lead. There appears to be no stopping the Astros, who now are nine games ahead of second-place Oakland in the AL West and they have beaten the Mariners eight times in a row. Seattle has lost three straight and eight of its last 10 games and usually doesn't even know who its starting pitcher will be until the late morning of the game. Framber Valdez goes for Houston tonight and he has pitched better at home where he has a 3.74 ERA mostly in relief. Seattle is 18-42 its last 60 road games and 20-45 the last 65 meetings with Houston and it has lost seven in a row at Minute Maid Park. The Astros are 42-13 their last 55 versus AL West teams and 59-17 against teams with losing records. Take the Astros.