Lance McCullers worked six innings in his first start in almost two years as the Houston Astros rode a balanced attack to a 7-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday at Minute Maid Park.

McCullers (1-0) missed the 2019 campaign following Tommy John surgery the previous offseason. He last started a game for the Astros against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 4, 2018, and worked in relief over his subsequent eight outings, including five that postseason.

McCullers wobbled early facing the Mariners, needing a pair of double-play grounders to escape traffic in the first and second innings. Austin Nola rolled into an inning-ending double play with Evan White and Kyle Seager in scoring position in the first before J.P. Crawford hit into a 4-6-3 double play after Daniel Vogelbach and Dee Gordon reached to open the second frame.

Crisis averted, McCullers breezed from there, striking out a pair of batters in the fourth and fifth, including Shed Long and White in succession after Crawford tripled and scored on a Mallex Smith RBI groundout. Mariners rookie center fielder Kyle Lewis cranked his second home run in as many games, taking McCullers the opposite way to right field with one out in the sixth inning.

McCullers allowed two runs on five hits and three walks with six strikeouts. He mixed in his repertoire of knuckle curveballs, fastballs and changeups during a 92-pitch performance.

Seattle has lost 12 straight games in Houston and 20 of its last 21 overall games against the Astros.

The Astros started their press against Mariners starter Taijuan Walker (0-1) in the first when Michael Brantley roped an RBI single to right that scored Jose Altuve. Houston chased Walker in the fourth after four batters reached base in succession, starting with a one-out solo home run to left-center from first baseman Yuli Gurriel. Walker departed after Kyle Tucker drilled an RBI double just inside the first-base bag, and Martin Maldonado greeted Seattle relief pitcher Brandon Brennan with a two-run single that scored Josh Reddick and Tucker for a 5-0 lead.

Maldonado tallied his second multi-hit and multi-RBI game. George Springer was the last starter to record a hit for the Astros, doing so with a 402-foot blast to left off Nestor Cortes in the sixth.

--Field Level Media