Mariners right-hander Taijuan Walker struck out a career-high 11 batters in Saturday's 6-3 win over the Astros. Walker pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He did not issue a walk, throwing 64 of his 94 pitches for strikes.
Walker (5-6) lowered his ERA to 4.94 with Saturday's outing. He gave up a couple of solo home runs to Evan Gattis and Luis Valbuena, but was otherwise sharp, keeping the Astros' hitters off balance for much of the night. Walker struck out six of the first nine batters to face him in the game.
The young hurler has now posted five consecutive quality starts, winning all but one of those starts. He's set to square off against the Angels in Anaheim on Friday.