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When GM Jeff Luhnow joined the Astros in December of 2011, he began one of the most comprehensive rebuilding efforts in recent memory. Since the Astros had lost in the World Series in 2005, the team had been stuck in baseball purgatory, winning between 73 and 86 games per season for the rest of the decade. That was too few wins to make the playoffs but too many wins to land impact draft talent. Luhnow allowed the team to bottom out. He traded away their veterans for prospects, which allowed their young players a chance to play and develop in the majors. They won just 55 and 51 games in his first two years (2012 and 2013), which landed them top draft picks and a larger draft spending pool.Luhnows plan followed a similar blueprint to the one the Rays used to become successful in the late 2000s and that the Cubs followed recently to become the best team in the NL. It can be a painful, five-year rebuild, but once its finished, teams are set up for sustained success. So its no surprise that the Astros developed into a really good team under Luhnow, but its a little surprising that it happened so quickly. In just his fourth season with the team in 2015, the Astros made the leap to 86 wins and a playoff berth as several of their elite prospects like Carlos Correa and George Springer became impact major leaguers.Following their recent hot play this season, the Astros have climbed within three games of the AL West-leading Rangers and just half a game out of the wild card. Given their talent advantage and improved trajectory, the Astros appear poised to take control of the West and win their first division crown since 2001.Luhnows plan has worked, but a couple of months ago, the teams outlook could not have been more different. To start this season, the Astros quickly fell to 10 games under .500. The kind narrative would have been that the Astros young stars had entered sophomore slumps; the cruel narrative would have been that the Astros success in 2015 was an extended hot streak, and the team was not ready to have sustained success. However, both of those narratives fall victim to the common fallacy of baseball fans to over-inflate the importance of the first month of the season.Over the course of a 162-game season, many excellent teams will have extended periods of poor performance. However, when those slumps happen at the beginning of the season, they form an impression of teams that can be difficult to reshape, even after their play and results improve. The Astros are a perfect example of this. Their 7-17 start to the season was the second worst in the AL, but since May 1, they have the best record in the league at 48-29. Rod Thorn Jersey . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. 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HOUSTON -- Another home loss by the Houston Astros on Monday night delivered a crushing blow to their already slim playoff hopes.Robinson Cano hit his second homer of the game with two outs in the 11th inning, lifting the Seattle Mariners over the Astros 4-3.Houston scored two runs in the ninth, but then Cano sent a slider from Luke Gregerson (4-3) into the second deck in right field to win.The victory moves Seattle two games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card and drops Houston, which has lost four of five, to 3 1/2 games back in the race.Were just not executing at the most critical times, manager A.J. Hinch said. But were going to keep fighting these last five games and see where it takes us. But certainly, its disappointing.Drew Storen (4-3) pitched a perfect 10th for the win. Nick Vincent allowed consecutive singles to Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa before retiring the next two batters for his third save.Cano doubled in the first inning and his home run in the third made it 2-0. Hes been great against the Astros this season with eight homers, four doubles and 22 RBI in 17 games.We didnt control Cano at all -- difficult way to go against them, Hinch said.Houston won five of six games on a road trip before returning home to drop three of four to the Angels before Mondays loss.Were doing the best that we can to salvage what we can and fight through this and get as many wins as we can, Hinch said. Were just having a hard time getting those wins in the last four or five games.Houston starter Collin McHugh yielded six hits, two runs and struck out six in seven innings.Despite their recent struggles, the Astros are still holding out hope.Theres no doubt that we need help, McHugh said. We need some other teams to beat some other teams and we need to win the rest of them. ... Weve got five more games to give ourselves a fighting chance.The Astros trailed 3-1 entering the ninth when George Springer singled off Edwin Diaz with no outs before advancing to third on a single by Marwin Gonzalez. Altuve grounded into a force out that left Gonzalez out at second and scored Springer to get Houston within 3-2.ddddddddddddAltuve stole second base before the Astros tied it on an RBI single by Correa.Evan Gattis followed with a single to leave Correa at third, but Diaz retired the next two batters to send it to the 10th.Mariners went up 1-0 when Seth Smith scored on a groundout by Nelson Cruz in the first.Cano made it 2-0 when he homered into the bullpen in right-center field with one out in the third.The Astros hadnt had a baserunner since the second inning when Jake Marisnick drew a walk with one out in the sixth inning. The Astros cut the lead to 2-1 on an RBI double by Gonzalez with two outs. Altuve singled after that, but Gonzalez was thrown out at home on the play to end the inning.The Mariners added a run in the ninth inning when Ben Gamel bunted and reliever James Hoyt badly overthrew first base for an error that allowed Ketel Marte to score from first. The play elicited a smattering of boos from the sparse crowd.Hisashi Iwakuma allowed four hits and one run in six innings to bounce back after allowing six runs in 3 1/3 innings in his last start.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: OF Colby Rasmus is done for the season because of a hip and groin injury. Rasmus, who hasnt played since Sept. 18, will seek a second opinion on his injury. ... Houston RHP Lance McCullers, who has been on the disabled list since Aug. 3 with an elbow strain, has left Houston and will continue his rehabilitation at the teams spring training facility in Florida. Hinch said hell throw live batting practice there before they decide his next step.UP NEXTMariners: Felix Hernandez (11-6, 3.61) will start for Seattle on Tuesday. Hernandez will pitch in Houston for the first time since June 12, 2015 when he allowed five hits and eight runs in 1/3 inning of a 10-0 loss, tying the shortest start of his career.Astros: Mike Fiers (11-8, 4.50) is scheduled to start for the Astros on Tuesday. Fiers allowed four hits and two runs in 6 1/3 innings of a 2-0 loss to the Angels in his last start. ' ' '