HOUSTON (AP) — George Springer wasn't quite sure if his towering fly ball was going to have enough distance. Three feet shorter or to the right, and it might be an game-ending fly out.
Instead, Springer's shot narrowly crossed the yellow line for a game-winning three-run homer in the 13th inning, capping a five-RBI game and lifting the Houston Astros to a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.
"I knew I had hit it OK. I was just glad it went over the line," Springer said.
Springer's shot off Chase De Jong (0-1), who started the inning to make his major-league debut, landed in the farthest seat of the first row of the left-field Crawford Boxes.
Evan Gattis drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on Norichika Aoki's single with two outs, setting the stage for Springer's big hit.
"I just didn't want to walk him, but I need to make a better location down," De Jong said. "He's a pretty aggressive hitter. It was a strike. He just got too much wood on it."
In the top of the 13th, Houston reliever Jandel Gustave walked Mitch Haniger, Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz to load the bases to start the inning. He was replaced by Brad Peacock (1-0), who walked Kyle Seager on five pitches to drive in the go-ahead run before getting the next three hitters.
The Astros improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2001, while dropping the Mariners to their first 0-3 start since 2011.
