Rangers Club Three Homers, But Fall to Mariners, 6-5

The Texas Rangers fought hard late, but fell to the Seattle Mariners on Monday afternoon in Peoria.

The Texas Rangers dropped a 6-5 decision to the Seattle Mariners on Monday afternoon in Peoria. Texas trailed all afternoon, but mounted a ninth-inning comeback attempt that ultimately fell short.

The Rangers entered the fifth inning down 3-0, but a run-scoring double by Marcus Semien got Texas on the board. Trailing 6-2 in the sixth, the Rangers closed the gap again when Joe McCarthy launched a solo blast to right field for his first home run in Cactus League play.

In the top of the ninth, solo home runs by Yohel Pozo and Brad Miller pulled Texas within a run of a tie. Miller’s homer was his third of the Cactus League season, as he has batted .438 with four extra-base hits and six RBI through five games.

Following a two-out double by Yonny Hernandez, the rally ended when Willie Calhoun grounded out to second base, stranding the tying run.

Starting pitcher Glenn Otto allowed two runs on three hits and a walk over 2 2/3 innings, fanning the final batter he faced for his only strikeout. The Rangers had four scoreless outings out of the bullpen from Fernery Ozuna, Joe Barlow, Nick Snyder and Dan Winkle, which covered the final 3 1/3 innings of the game.

Tehe Rangers will host the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday at 3:05 p.m. CT in Surprise. Spencer Howard (1-0, 0.00) is scheduled to start for the Rangers, and is slated to face Cincinnati southpaw Reiver Sanmartin (0-0, 0.00). Tuesday’s game will be the first spring training game televised by Bally Sports Southwest this year.