Seattle @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 18, 2016 ) Houston 3, Seattle 7

The Houston Astros host the Seattle Mariners for three games beginning Monday in what amounts to an American League wild-card race elimination series, although the chances for either to reach the postseason are remote. Seattle trails Baltimore by 2 1/2 games for the second wild card while Houston is one-half game behind the Mariners, who made it 12 wins in their last 17 contests with a 4-3 victory in Minnesota on Sunday.

"Nothing is over until it's over," Seattle designated hitter Nelson Cruz told reporters. "We've got to fight and just keep battling. Hopefully at the end, we can come up and surprise a lot of people." Cruz left Sunday's game with a wrist injury after slugging two home runs, giving him 41 for his third consecutive 40-homer season to go along with 100 RBIs, but is expected to play Monday. Houston didn't help itself by losing three of four to the Los Angeles Angels, salvaging Sunday's series finale 4-1 after which manager A.J. Hinch told reporters: "We have no room for error, so we've got to win as many games as we can." The Astros' Collin McHugh is 5-0 in his last seven starts - all Houston wins - and 4-0 with a 1.08 ERA in four outings this season versus Seattle as he opposes Hisashi Iwakuma, who was rocked in his last start after winning his previous two to reach a career high for victories.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, ROOT (Seattle, Houston)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners RH Hisashi Iwakuma (16-12, 4.04 ERA) vs. Astros RH Collin McHugh (12-10, 4.61)

Iwakuma allowed a season-high six runs - five earned - and eight hits (two home runs) in 3 1/3 innings of a 10-2 loss to Toronto on Tuesday. The 35-year-old Tokyo native, who won 15 games in 2014 and 14 a year earlier in his first two seasons as a full-time starter, is 2-5 with a 4.81 ERA in his last seven outings. Jose Altuve is hitting .429 in 35 at-bats against Iwakuma, who is 5-6 with a 3.87 ERA in 13 starts against Houston after permitting two hits while matching a season high with eight strikeouts in seven innings of a 1-0 victory over the Astros on July 16.

McHugh yielded two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 6-5 victory in Oakland on Wednesday. The 29-year-old Illinois native allowed two hits in seven frames of a 6-0 triumph at Seattle on Sept. 16, telling reporters afterward: "I think we just match up pretty well with them, at least me. ... I don't know what the formula is." Kyle Seager is 4-for-29 with 11 strikeouts against McHugh, who is 9-3 with a 3.96 ERA in 12 career starts versus the Mariners.

WALK-OFFS

1. Houston RHP Ken Giles recorded his 14th save Sunday, one day after he was struck on the right wrist with a batting-practice line drive. "I just wanted to go out there and put up a zero," Giles told reporters. "I needed to do that for the team and show them that I can bounce back."

2. Seager (29 home runs, 96 RBIs) is 1-for-22 with seven strikeouts in his last six games after going 0-for-4 on Sunday.

3. The Astros finish the season on the road with three against the Los Angeles Angels while Seattle, which hasn't reached the postseason since 2001, hosts Oakland for a four-game series.

PREDICTION: Astros 3, Mariners 2