James Paxton and five relievers made three second-inning runs stand up Friday night at Globe Life Park in Arlington for a 3-1 win over the Rangers (box score), new leaders of the American League West. Texas had snapped its five-game winning streak, which included a four-game sweep of former division leader Houston.
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After the ejection, Kyle Seager immediately singled, scoring Marte for the third and final Seattle Run.
Morrison reached on a one-out walk and went to third when Brad Miller squirted a clearly fair grounder past third base.
“That’s a tough inning”, Banister said. Texas starter Yovani Gallardo (12-11) struck out Steven Baron before Marte cued his double past third.
It was the second straight loss for Gallardo, who was only able to pitch five innings and allowed three runs on eight hits. “Two balls threaded down the line, one questionable and then a flop shot, which those happen in the game of baseball”. The play was not reviewable, as determined by the umpires, and Banister disagreed. But any time the umpire has to move then it becomes a reviewable play.
Needless to say, that kid isn’t going to be very comfortable when he looks for a hug again. With runners on first and second with no outs, replays showed that Adrian Beltre came off the bag momentarily while sliding into third on a wild pitch.
When Paxton forced in a run by walking Beltre and Fielder, the Mariners went to their bullpen for Danny Farquhar, who got Napoli to ground into a double play.
“There’s so many little scenarios like that where you don’t necessarily even see it on the field that come up over the course of a season”, Seager said. As it turns out, Hamels may now be a factor for the Rangers postseason run and could prove to be a difference maker sooner than the front office expected. Now they have to make sure they keep the lead they’ve worked so hard to grasp. Seattle is coming off a 1-1 tie against the San Jose Earthquakes. Paxton struck out Delino DeShields and Fielder earlier in the inning. He walked with the bases loaded in the fifth to end a 22-inning scoreless streak for Texas against the Mariners.
The moment underscored how Hamilton could help the Rangers just as a pinch-hitter. He had surgery to clean up the meniscus in the knee after dealing with soreness for several weeks.
The victory boosted the Mariners to 72-76, which marks the first time they’ve been within four games of.500 since a June 2 loss dropped them to 24-28.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Jeff Banister couldn’t get a replay when Seattle’s Ketel Marte grounded a two-run double over the third base bag.
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Rangers: LHP Cole Hamels (3-1, 4.04) is 3-0 in his past six starts for Texas, which has won all six of those games since losing his first two times out after the trade with Philadelphia.
