MLB

Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers

· Major League Baseball
Seattle Mariners
80-75, 34-43 Away
Final
8 - 4
Texas Rangers
73-82, 43-37 Home

Rodríguez has leadoff HR, tiebreaking single as wild card-chasing Mariners beat Rangers 8-4

The Mariners (80-75) pulled within 1 1/2 games of Minnesota for the third AL wild card after the Twins were rained out in Boston. Detroit is a half-game behind Minnesota.

Seattle, which had a 10-game lead in the AL West in mid-June but now trails Houston by five with seven games remaining, is five games over .500 for the first time in more than a month.

“I think there's a good feeling going on in here,” interim manager Dan Wilson said. “I think the guys as a collective group are fighting together and there's a lot of confidence going.”

The seventh leadoff homer of the season for the Mariners, and the first for Rodríguez, came off Dane Dunning, who started for Max Scherzer when the three-time Cy Young Award winner was scratched.

Scherzer was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left hamstring strain, ending the season for the 40-year-old right-hander who is on an expiring contract. Various health issues limited Scherzer to nine starts.

Josh Smith hit a tying two-run homer in the third for the Rangers a night after the defending World Series champions were eliminated from postseason contention. The loss clinched a seventh losing record in the past eight seasons for Texas (73-82).

After homering twice in Seattle's 8-2 victory in the series opener, Rodríguez sent his 19th of the season to the opposite field in right on a 90 mph sinker from Dunning, who allowed seven hits and two runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Rodríguez, who had four RBI, gave Seattle a 3-2 lead with the first of three consecutive run-scoring singles off José Leclerc in the sixth. Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena followed with theirs. Rodríguez added a two-run single in the ninth.

“He's just proving time and time again that he's hitting the ball hard,” Wilson said. “He's able to leave in any part of the ballpark. Going to right field to start the game was a big lift.”

Leclerc had replaced Andrew Chafin (4-3), who allowed the first three batters to reach in the sixth.

Arozarena preserved Seattle's 5-4 lead with a sprinting catch of a bases-loaded liner from Marcus Semien with two out in the sixth.

Dylan Moore made a lunging catch for Seattle on Nathaniel Lowe's smash down the line at first with one out and two on in the seventh. Moore had moved from second base after Justin Turner fouled a pitch off his foot and left the game following his inning-ending groundout in the sixth.

Austin Voth struck out Smith with runners at the corners to end the eighth when the lead was still one run. Emerson Hancock (4-4) allowed two runs in five innings.

“We did have a lot of chances,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “One hit changes the whole game, changes the score. Tough luck. Marcus smokes that ball, bases loaded. That's all you can do.”

TRAINER'S ROOM

Mariners: OF Victor Robles was out of the lineup with an injured right middle finger that made gripping a bat and throwing difficult. But Robles did replace Polanco as a pinch runner in the ninth after Polanco's third hit. Robles scored from second base when he broke for third on a steal and scored on Walter Pennington's wild pitch.

Rangers: 3B Josh Jung has been sidelined for three games because of soreness in his surgically repaired right wrist. Jung missed three months after the wrist was fractured when he was hit by a pitch in the fourth game of the season.

UP NEXT

Seattle RHP Bryan Woo (8-3, 2.45 ERA) faces LHP Andrew Heaney (5-14, 3.89 ERA) in the series finale and Texas' final home game of the season.

How can I watch Seattle Mariners vs. Texas Rangers?
  • TV Channel: Mariners at Rangers 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Rangers: 57.3%
Mariners: 42.7%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Taveras flied out to left.
9th Inning Duran flied out to center.
9th Inning Lowe singled to right, Langford to second.
9th Inning García struck out swinging.
9th Inning Langford singled to right.
9th Inning Bazardo relieved Voth

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/sea.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originSEA https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/tex.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTEX
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
1 Hit By Pitch 0
17 Ground Balls 10
10 Strikeouts 7
7 Runs Batted In 4
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
16 Hits 12
3 Stolen Bases 2
4 Walks 4
0 Catcher Interference 0
8 Runs 4
1 Ground Into Double Play 0
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
42 At Bats 39
1 Home Runs 1
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
22 Runners Left On Base 21
1 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
1 Doubles 2
15 Fly Balls 22
0 Caught Stealing 0
214 Pitches 176
0 Games Started 0
1 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 1
22 Total Bases 17
47 Plate Appearances 43
162.0 Projected Home Runs 162.0
3 Extra Base Hits 3
9.8 Runs Created 6.9
.381 Batting Average .308
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.524 Slugging Percentage .436
.310 Secondary Average .282
.447 On Base Percentage .372
.971 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .808
1.1 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.5
9.8 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 6.9
56.5 Batter Rating 37.0
42.0 At Bats Per Home Run 39.0
1.00 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
4.55 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.09
.143 Isolated Power .128
0.40 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.57
.085 Walks Per Plate Appearance .093
-.071 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.026
15.0 Runs Produced 8.0
0.9 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.6 Patience Ratio 0.5
0.5 Balls In Play Average 0.4
105.0 MLB Rating 89.0
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Globe Life Field

Location: Arlington, Texas
Attendance: 39,929 | Capacity:

2024 American League West Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 88 73 .547 - W2
Seattle 85 77 .525 3.5 W4
Texas 78 84 .481 10.5 W3
Oakland 69 93 .426 19.5 L3
Los Angeles 63 99 .389 25.5 L6
Full Standings