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HOUSTON — The defending champion Houston Astros called a team meeting Sunday after a three-game sweep at the hands of the Seattle Mariners narrowed their lead in the AL West and wild-card standings.

“Like I said to everybody after the game, this is one of the most disappointing parts of the … season,” veteran catcher Martin Maldonado said. “This is a slap in the face and a wake-up call.”

Sunday’s win cut Houston’s lead over Seattle to within a half-game. The Mariners currently hold the third AL wild-card playoff spot, with the Astros in the second spot and the Rangers atop the AL West with a three-game lead over Houston.

Maldonado said the Astros need to stop focusing on their opponents but instead on how they can play better.

“The key will be better energy in the dugout, not being satisfied after you lose,” he said. “Everybody who comes here wants to beat us and we don’t make them earn it. We just feel like we’re just giving it away.”

The Mariners jumped on Hunter Brown (9-9) early in Sunday’s game, scoring two runs in each of the first three innings to race out to a 6-0 lead.

Seattle starter Emerson Hancock pitched two scoreless innings before leaving with a right shoulder strain. He was relieved by Tayler Saucedo, who allowed five runs without getting an out to cut the lead to 1.

Dylan Moore, who also set a career mark with four hits, pushed the lead to 7-5 with an RBI single in the fifth.

Jeremy Pena doubled with one out in the sixth before Jose Altuve got a third strike on a pitch timer violation. Alex Bregman followed with an RBI triple that cut the lead to 7-6.

The Mariners intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez before Yainer Diaz grounded out to end the inning. The Astros never threatened again.

Sunday’s victory extends Seattle’s overall winning streak to six games and improves the team’s record against Houston this season to 8-2.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Giants’ Verlander pitches 2 innings in spring debut

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Giants' Verlander pitches 2 innings in spring debut

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Justin Verlander struck out one and allowed a solo home run while pitching two innings in his spring training debut for the San Francisco Giants on Monday.

Verlander’s first start of the spring came four days after the three-time Cy Young Award winner’s 42nd birthday.

After allowing the two-out homer to Colorado’s Michael Toglia in the first inning, Verlander walked the next batter before retiring the last four he faced. All three Rockies hitters in the second were retired on fly balls.

Verlander’s 262 career wins are the most among active pitchers. The right-hander is preparing for his 20th big league season and his first with San Francisco after an injury-plagued 2024 in Houston. He signed a $15 million, one-year contract with the Giants.

Shoulder inflammation and neck discomfort limited Verlander to 17 starts last season, when he went 5-6 with a 5.48 ERA — a single-season worst that was more than two runs higher than his 3.30 career ERA.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Chafin gets minor league deal, returns to Tigers

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Chafin gets minor league deal, returns to Tigers

LAKELAND, Fla. — Free agent reliever Andrew Chafin signed a minor league deal Monday to go to spring training with the Detroit Tigers, the team that traded the left-hander to Texas last summer.

Chafin has pitched in 105 games for the Tigers over two stints — 64 games in 2022 and 41 last year before being dealt to Texas for two minor leaguers in July. It was the fourth time in five seasons he was part of a deadline trade.

Texas in November declined a $6.5 million team option for Chafin, who instead got a $500,000 buyout. He had a 4.19 ERA while pitching 19⅓ innings in 21 appearances for the Rangers, after a 3.16 ERA with 50 strikeouts over 37 innings for the Tigers.

The 34-year-old Chafin has a 3.75 ERA in 601 big league appearances over 11 seasons for six teams. The only team he has pitched more for than Detroit is Arizona, the club that picked him 43rd overall in the 2011 amateur draft. He made 377 relief appearances and started three games for the Diamondbacks over parts of eight seasons.

Chafin made his debut with the Diamondbacks in 2014, and they traded him to the Chicago Cubs in 2020. He returned to Arizona as a free agent in 2023 and was traded that summer to Milwaukee. He also pitched for Oakland during part of the 2021 season.

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Reports: Yanks’ Stanton in N.Y. for medical tests

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Reports: Yanks' Stanton in N.Y. for medical tests

Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton has returned to New York to undergo medical testing, multiple outlets reported Monday.

Stanton, 35, has yet to take part in spring training activities in Tampa, Fla., as he continues to battle tendinitis in both elbows. The New York Post said Monday that it was unclear whether the medical testing was for an evaluation of his elbows.

On Sunday, manager Aaron Boone told reporters that Stanton was undergoing treatment and “nothing imminent” was on tap for the designated hitter, baseball-wise.

The Yankees haven’t been pushing Stanton this spring, giving him time to rest and, hopefully, recover.

The MVP of the 2024 American League Championship Series, Stanton was bothered by deep soreness in his elbows for much of last season. He hit 27 home runs and drove in 72 runs over 114 games in the regular season.

Stanton had seven homers and 16 RBIs in 55 postseason at-bats as the Yankees reached the World Series before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. Stanton went deep twice in the Fall Classic to follow up his four-homer showing against the Cleveland Guardians in the ALCS.

Stanton is entering his 16th major league season — the first eight coming with the Miami Marlins before he was traded to the Yankees prior to the 2018 season. He has 429 homers and 1,103 RBIs along with a .257 average in 1,649 career games.

Stanton is a five-time All-Star and he was the National League MVP in 2017 when he established career highs of 59 homers and 132 RBIs for Miami.

He has three seasons remaining on a 13-year, $325 million deal he signed with the Marlins. The Yankees hold a club option for 2028.

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