Crawford caps Mariners rally with RBI single in 9th to beat reeling Astros 8-7

SEATTLE (AP) — J.P. Crawford singled home the winning run after Bryan Abreu walked the bases loaded with one out in the ninth inning, and the Seattle Mariners rallied past the skidding Houston Astros 8-7 on Saturday night.

Cal Raleigh homered and had three RBIs for the Mariners, who trailed 7-2 before scoring five times in the fifth. Crawford hit a two-run single, Raleigh followed with a sacrifice fly and Julio Rodríguez tied it with a two-run homer.

The 426-foot shot to center field was Rodríguez's first home run this season.

Yordan Alvarez homered and had three of Houston's 17 hits, but the Astros lost their sixth straight game. All-Star shortstop Jeremy Peña exited in the fourth because of right posterior knee tightness.

Taylor Trammell delivered an early three-run double and Cam Smith had a career-high four hits for Houston — including a two-run single that capped a 13-pitch at-bat.

Carlos Correa also had three hits and scored twice for the Astros, who stranded 13 runners. They loaded the bases in the top of the ninth before Alvarez flied out against Andrés Muñoz (2-1).

Alvarez already has six homers and 14 RBIs this season.

Abreu (0-2) walked Cole Young, pinch-hitter Brendan Donovan and Leo Rivas in the ninth before Crawford lined a single into left field. It was his seventh walk-off hit, tying Jim Presley for the team record.

Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. allowed six runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Houston chased Luis Castillo in the fourth after Isaac Paredes’ single made it 7-2. Castillo gave up 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Eduard Bazardo worked out of a jam for Seattle in the seventh with runners at the corners and no outs. He retired the next three batters, striking out Trammell to end the inning.

Mariners RHP Logan Gilbert (0-2, 5.40 ERA) gets the ball Sunday in the third game of the four-game series. The Astros hadn't announced a scheduled starter yet.

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Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodríguez celebrates with the trident in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run against the Houston Astros during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Seattle Mariners' J.P. Crawford, facing, celebrates with Cal Raleigh (29) after hitting a game-winning RBI single against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Seattle Mariners' J.P. Crawford, center facing, celebrates with teammates after hitting a game-winning RBI single against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Seattle Mariners' J.P. Crawford, center, celebrates with Julio Rodríguez, left, after hitting a game-winning single to score Cole Young against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Seattle Mariners' J.P. Crawford reacts to hitting a game-winning RBI single to score Cole Young against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United States and Iran failed to reach an agreement at the end of historic, face-to-face talks after the U.S. said Tehran refused to commit to not developing a nuclear weapon, leaving uncertainty over a fragile, two-week ceasefire.

Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation, said the talks lasted 21 hours in Pakistan's capital Islamabad but in the end they did not see “an affirmative commitment” from Iran “that they will not seek a nuclear weapon.”

Vance’s comments did not indicate what will happen after the 14-day ceasefire initially agreed to by the U.S., Iran and Israel, but Pakistani mediators called on the U.S. and Iran to maintain the ceasefire.

“It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to ceasefire,” Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said, adding that his country will try to facilitate a new dialogue between Iran and the U.S. in the coming days.

Iran did not immediately provide an official comment.

The discussions in Islamabad began Saturday, a few days after the fragile ceasefire was announced as the war that has killed thousands of people and shaken global markets entered its seventh week.

Vance said he remained in constant communication with U.S. President Donald Trump and others in the administration during the negotiations.

“But the simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vance told reporters. “That is the core goal of the president of the United States. And that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”

The vice president said he spoke with Trump “a half dozen times, a dozen times, over the past 21 hours” and also spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Adm. Brad Cooper, head of the United States Central Command.

“We were negotiating in good faith,” Vance said, speaking at a podium in front of a pair of American flags with special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to his side. “And we leave here, and we leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”

While the talks were being conducted in Islamabad, the U.S. military said two destroyers transited the Iran-gripped Strait of Hormuz ahead of mine-clearing work, a first since the war began. Iran’s state media, however, said the joint military command denied that.

“We’re sweeping the strait. Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me,” Trump told journalists as talks continued and the time approached 2 a.m. in Islamabad. He called negotiations “very deep.” Iranian state TV noted what it called “serious” differences.

The U.S. delegation led by Vance and the Iranian one led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf discussed with Pakistan how to advance the ceasefire already threatened by deep disagreements and Israel's continued attacks against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, whose health ministry said the death toll has surpassed 2,000.

Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the most direct U.S. contact had been in 2013 when President Barack Obama called newly elected President Hassan Rouhani to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. Obama's secretary of state, John Kerry, and counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif later met during negotiations toward the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — a process that lasted well over a year.

Now the far broader talks featured Vance, a reluctant defender of the war who has little diplomatic experience and warned Iran not to “try and play us,” and Qalibaf, a former commander with Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard who has issued some of Iran's most fiery statements since fighting began.

Iran’s state-run news agency said the three-party talks began after Iranian preconditions, including a reduction in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, were met.

Iran's delegation told state television it had presented “red lines” in meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, including compensation for damage caused by U.S.-Israeli strikes that launched the war on Feb. 28 and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.

The war has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and caused lasting damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries. Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz has largely cut off the Persian Gulf and its oil and gas exports from the global economy, sending energy prices soaring.

Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has proved its biggest strategic advantage in the war. Around a fifth of the world’s traded oil had typically passed through on over 100 ships a day. Only 12 have been recorded transiting since the ceasefire.

On Saturday, Trump said on social media that the U.S. had begun “clearing out” the strait.

“Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon,” U.S. Central Command commander Adm. Brad Cooper later said. The U.S. statement about the destroyers added: "Additional U.S. forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance effort in the coming days.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said Tehran was entering negotiations with “deep distrust” after strikes on Iran during previous talks. Araghchi, part of Iran’s delegation in Pakistan, said Saturday that his country was prepared to retaliate if attacked again.

Iran’s 10-point proposal ahead of the talks called for a guaranteed end to the war and sought control over the Strait of Hormuz. It included ending fighting against Iran’s “regional allies," explicitly calling for a halt to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah.

The United States’ 15-point proposal includes restricting Iran’s nuclear program and reopening the strait.

Israel pressed ahead with strikes in Lebanon after saying there is no ceasefire there. Iran and Pakistan have disagreed.

Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected to begin Tuesday in Washington, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s office has said, after Israel's surprise announcement authorizing talks despite the countries lack of official relations.

But as thousands in Lebanon protested the planned negotiations on Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he had postponed a planned trip to Washington “in light of the current internal circumstances.” His absence should not affect talks as the first round is expected to be at the ambassadorial level.

Israel wants Lebanon's government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, much like was envisaged in a November 2024 ceasefire. But the militant group has survived efforts to curb its strength for decades.

Hezbollah joined the war in support of Iran in the opening days. Israel followed with airstrikes and a ground invasion.

The day the Iran ceasefire deal was announced, Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, killing more than 300 people in the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began, according to the country's Health Ministry.

Castillo reported from Beijing and Finley and Binkley from Washington. Josh Boak in Washington, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Cara Anna in Lowville, New York, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.

In this photo released by the Pakistan Prime Minister Office, Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, left, meets with hand with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11, 2026 (Pakistan Prime Minister Office via AP)

Vice President JD Vance, second left, shakes hands with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, as Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, left, Pakistan's Chief of Defence Forces Chief of Army Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir, third left, and Charge d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad Natalie A. Baker, right, look on, as he prepares to board Air Force Two after attending talks on Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

Vice President JD Vance arrives for news conference after meeting with representatives from Pakistan and Iran, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

Vice President JD Vance, right, speaks during a news conference after meeting with representatives from Pakistan and Iran as Jared Kushner, left, and Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy for Peace Missions listen, on Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)