Mariners' James Paxton: Dominant in return

Paxton (9-4) allowed three hits and no walks while striking out eight across seven scoreless innings to earn the win against the Astros on Monday.

Paxton threw only 82 pitches in his first start since July 12, but that didn't stop him from putting together a dominant effort. He generated nine swinging strikeouts, a relatively low mark given his baseline, though he consistently hammered the strike zone as 59 of his 82 pitches went for strikes. His eight-strikeout effort also brought his strikeout total to 163 for the season, a new career-best. This was undoubtedly an encouraging performance for Paxton and he should be able to pitch with few to no limits for the remainder of the season.