Rangers Collapse Late, Lose To Mariners in Extras
The Texas Rangers went to extra innings for the second time in five games. losing to the Seattle Mariners 6-5 in 10 innings Sunday at Globe Life Field.
The Mariners scored the winning run on a one-out wild pitch by the Rangers reliever Brock Burke in the top of the 10th, which scored Abraham Toro from third base. The Rangers failed to score in the bottom half, despite a one-out intentional walk to Corey Seager, which put the winning run at first base.
With the loss, the Rangers (26-28) finished the homestand with a losing record (3-4) and have lost four of their last five games entering their upcoming six-game road trip to Cleveland and Chicago.
The Rangers had a 5-2 lead going into the ninth on the strength of four home runs, three of which were solo shots by Adolis García, Marcus Semien and rookie Ezequiel Duran.
Duran’s first MLB home run was the go-ahead shot and came in the bottom of the seventh, after Mariners reliever Andrés Muñoz retired García and Nathaniel Lowe. Duran hammered a 2-1 pitch into left field to break the tie and put the Rangers in control.
“It’s cool. It was a tie game and he was throwing 100 miles per hour and you take a pitch on the black (of the plate) inside and it’s a home run,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “I wish it could have been the game winner.”
Mitch Garver gave the Rangers some insurance with a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth that wrapped around the left-field foul pole.
But Rangers reliever Matt Bush blew the save in the ninth. He gave up an opposite-field, one-out home run to Ty France to cut the lead to 5-3. That was followed by singles by Julio Rodriguez and J.P. Crawford. After that, Eugenio Suárez — who drove in four of the five Seattle runs through nine innings — hit a double to right field that scored both to tie the game at 5-5.
“A couple pitches were hit hard and we didn’t execute,” Woodward said. “Others weren’t hit hard and found grass out there. Suarez’s hit was too much over the plate. You can’t give him something to hit like that.”
After Bush retired Cal Raleigh, the Rangers brought Burke into the game and he retired Abraham Toro to end the threat.
Texas failed to break the tie in the bottom of the ninth, despite Lowe’s one-out single. Duran and rookie Steele Walker both struck out.
Rangers starter Martín Pérez, the reigning American League Pitcher of the Month, made his first start in June and had to fight through six innings with shaky command.
Pérez gave up his first home run of the season, a solo shot by Suárez in the fourth. But Pérez worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third, forcing Crawford to pop out to Duran at third base to end the threat. Pérez also dodged a two-on jam in the fourth.
But, in the fifth, he wasn’t able to evade giving up the tying run, as Suárez again did the honors with a two-out single to left, which scored Rodriguez.
When Pérez left after six innings, he had thrown 105 pitches and given up seven hits and two runs. He walked two and struck out seven. Pérez’s league-leading ERA moved up to 1.56.
“They didn’t budge on anything on the edges and a lot of those pitches, especially after the third inning, were just off,” Woodward said. “He did a good job. Six innings, giving up two runs and he kept himself together. The old Martin may have gotten frustrated. Today he got us out of jams.”
The Rangers grabbed the lead in the second inning as García hit his second home run in as many games, this one a solo shot, off Mariners rookie starter George Kirby. This came a day after García’s three-run shot on Saturday was the difference in the Rangers’ 3-2 win.
Texas extended the lead in the third inning with Semien’s solo homer, which was his second of the homestand and his third of the season.
Otherwise, Kirby threw well, pitching six innings, giving up five hits and two runs. He struck out three and didn’t allow a walk.
The Rangers made more moves before Sunday’s game, calling up Walker and starting him in left field. The Rangers sent third baseman Andy Ibáñez to Triple-A Round Rock and designated veteran outfielder Willie Calhoun for assignment, a precursor for either trading or releasing Calhoun, who asked for a trade last month.
The Rangers will be in Cleveland for three games starting Monday, followed by a three-game set at the Chicago White Sox starting on Friday. The Rangers return home on June 13 for a three-game set against the Houston Astros.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard
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