Tanaka got two groundouts to end the threat.Iw

PITTSBURGH -- Those who primarily follow the National League -- say, for instance, Pittsburgh Pirates fans -- might not have heard much about right-hander Joe Musgrove.Musgrove (1-1, 4.18 ERA) began the season with Double-A Corpus Christi and has had arguably a meteoric start to his career with Houston. He will be on the mound Tuesday when the Astros play the second of three games at PNC Park.At 6 feet 5, 265 pounds, Musgrove, 23, can look imposing, and he has pitched accordingly -- thanks to his performance and a couple of opportunities.He was recalled from Triple-A Fresno Aug. 1 because Doug Fister was going on paternity leave. He came on in relief Aug. 2, pitching 4 1/3 scoreless innings against Toronto and setting a major league record for strikeouts by a reliever making his major league debut with eight.The starter that day, Lance McCullers, then went on the DL, so the Astros kept Musgrove around and gave him his first start, Aug. 7 against Texas, then another and another. The statistic that jumps out: He has 23 strikeouts and three walks in 23 2/3 innings.In his first start, which turned out to be a 5-3, 11-inning Astros loss to the Rangers, Musgrove retired the first 10 batters he faced before giving up three hits in the fifth. Then he settled back down and retired seven of the last eight batters he faced as he pitched through the seventh.He tired at the end but still gutted through his performance, Astros manager A.J. Hinch told the Houston Chronicle. Thats a big step for a young kid to come up here, get his first start and finish his outing. Its really easy to nitpick at the end when youre tired, not make a pitch, and end up having me go out and get you at 6 2/3, as opposed to seven.So there was a good growth day for him. Hes got a lot of charisma, he knows what hes doing, and hes going to attack the zone. I really like what I see from his first two outings.Musgrove has gone 1-1 since that no-decision.Tuesday, he will oppose right-hander Ivan Nova (9-6, 4.83 ERA), meaning it could be a strikeout contest.Nova is 2-0 with a 4.41 ERA in three starts since Pittsburgh acquired him from the Yankees. In his most recent start, a no-decision Wednesday in a 6-5 Pirates win in San Francisco, Nova gave up four runs on six hits over four innings, with five strikeouts and no walks.Houston and the Pirates are in similar battles to try to climb into a wild-card spot, but they are moving in different directions lately.The Astros 3-1 win Monday in the series opener was their fourth win in a row and kept them 3 1/2 games behind Baltimore, which holds the second American League wild-card spot.Since falling to 11 games under .500 on May 22 at 17-28, Houston is 48-32.Winning is contagious and playing good baseball is contagious, said Mondays winning pitcher, Doug Fister. Weve been playing pretty well the last few days, the best weve played in a while.The game Monday was Pittsburghs fourth loss in a row, leaving the Pirates two games behind Miami and four behind St. Louis, which holds the second National League wild-card spot.Manager Clint Hurdle often cites an even keel as critical, and hes emphasizing it even more now.Were very consistent in what we do, and one thing I remind them of is to think with reason, not to think with emotion; make decisions with reason, dont make decisions with emotion, Hurdle said. Many of them have been there in that situation before. Ive been in that situation before. Its not for lack of effort or attitude. Youre getting attitude, youre getting effort, the game can swing back and forth sometimes.Youve got to play through it. You hold fast. These are the times when the coaching staff and myself need to show up. Somebodys got to hold the wheel, keep them positive, keep them playing forward and keep them optimistic. 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SEATTLE -- It took little time for Yankees rookie Gary Sanchez to receive the type of respect normally reserved for established veterans considered among the elite hitters.Seven home runs in the past nine games will quickly earn anyone respect. And in the case of Sanchez in Wednesdays 5-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners that torrid stretch led to him receiving two intentional walks just so the Mariners could face Mark Teixeira instead.You dont see it very often. You really dont, New York manager Joe Girardi said. It means that (Seattle manager) Scott Servais is paying attention to how he is swinging, number one, besides just here in Seattle. It just says a lot about him, his abilities.Sanchezs home run in the first inning and Masahiro Tanaka winning his fourth straight start helped the Yankees take two of three from the Mariners and close on one of the teams theyre chasing in the AL wild-card race. The Yankees won their third straight road series.Tanaka (11-4) threw seven innings and got the better of the Mariners and his former Japan league teammate Hisashi Iwakuma (14-9).And yet he was overshadowed by Sanchez.Its outstanding, astonishing, Tanaka said through an interpreter.Sanchez homered into the second deck in left field in the first inning on the first pitch from Iwakuma, his ninth home run in 18 games since joining the Yankees lineup on Aug. 3. He became the fifth player since 1913 to have nine or more home runs in his first 21 games. Trevor Story of Colorado had 10 homers in his first 21 games earlier this season.Sanchez added a double later in the game and his intentional walk in the seventh inning led to Teixeiras RBI single for a 4-0 lead. The Mariners took no chances with the new catcher the next time, either, again intentionally walking him.The walks seemed almost as impressive as the surge of home runs.I definitely was not expecting that, especially that last at-bat because I think there was no outs so I thought they would let me hit, Sanchez said through an interpreter. But they didnt.Tanaka was shaky early, escaping jams in the second and third innings before rolling the rest of the way. He followed up 7 2/3 shutout innings in his last start against the Angels by keeping Seattle off the scoreboard, allowing six hits and striking out five.dddddddddddd.Tanaka did issue his first bases on ball since July 27 when he walked Seth Smith in the third inning, and snapped his streak of three consecutive starts with at least eight strikeouts and no walks.After Ketel Marte bunted for a single with one out in the fifth, Tanaka retired his final eight batters.They pitched us well all series. We havent been shut down like that in quite some time, Servais said.Dellin Betances got the final out of the eighth and pitched the ninth for his sixth save.Seattles best scoring chance came in the second inning when Leonys Martin missed a two-run homer by inches, settling for a line drive single off the top of the fence in right field and advanced Adam Lind to third base. Tanaka got two groundouts to end the threat.Iwakuma lost his second straight start despite giving up just three earned runs. It was the second time he matched up with Tanaka and 13th time in major league history two Japanese pitchers met. Tanaka also got the victory in April when the two met at Yankee Stadium.REACHING 800Girardi became the sixth manager in Yankees history to reach 800 wins, joining Joe McCarthy, Joe Torre, Casey Stengel, Miller Huggins and Ralph Houk.TRAINERS ROOMYankees: C Brian McCann was given the day off after catching Tuesdays game. It was the first game McCann caught since Aug. 12 and just the second since Aug. 4.Mariners: 3B Kyle Seager was out of the lineup after fouling a ball off his right foot in Tuesdays game. Initial X-rays were negative, but Servais said Seager would get additional examination before the team left for its road trip.UP NEXTYankees: New York has a day off Thursday before opening a series at home on Friday against Baltimore.Mariners: Seattle opens a seven-game trip on Thursday at the White Sox. James Paxton is expected to be activated off the DL to start the opener, although the move has not been announced. ' ' '