Post-Game Notes: Mariners 6, Rangers 2

TEXAS has lost 2 straight, 4 of 5, and 8 of 11 games in August after rounding out the month of July with a 3-1 series victory over the Angels in Anaheim…has suffered 9 consecutive defeats vs. SEA (beg. 6/5), club’s longest losing streak ever against the M’s and tied for longest single-season losing skid ever vs. a single opponent (5x, last 6/20-8/16/14 vs. LAA)…all 9 hits tonight were singles, 1st time this season to record 9+ hits without an extra-base hit.

ADOLIS GARCÍA registered a game-high 111.5 mph exit velocity on his 4th-inning single, extending his current hit streak to 9 straight games at .382 (13-34)…according to Statcast, it was his hardest-hit batted ball of the season and 2nd-hardest of his career (112.4 mph fly out on 5/20/21 vs. NYY)…García has recorded hits in 18 of 22 G since the All-Star break, batting .329 (27-82) to raise his season BA from .237 to .255.

EZEQUIEL DURAN has hits in each of his last 6 appearances (2-for-4 tonight), one game shy of matching his longest hit streak of the season (7 from 6/11-17)…has produced a .333 BA (8-24) over the course of the streak, including a pair of multi-hit showings (tonight & Sun. vs. CWS).

NATHANIEL LOWE has reached base safely via H/BB in 18 consecutive games (beg. 7/25), the 2nd-longest on-base streak of his career (25, 4/17-5/13/21) and longest by a Ranger in 2022…Lowe has reached in 21 of 22 G since the All-Star break, slashing .326/.363/.547/.910 (28-86) over that span.

JOSÉ LECLERC recorded 7 outs, incl. 3 strikeouts, over 2.1 scoreless frames spanning the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings, the 2nd-longest outing of his career (2.2 IP on 7/6/16 at BOS, his MLB debut)…has retired 16 of 19 batters faced over his last 3 appearances (5.1 SHO IP), and has been scoreless in 7 of his last 8 games to lower his season ERA from 5.52 to 3.67…induced 7 swing-and-miss strikes (Statcast), one shy of his season high (8, 7/15 vs. SEA).

SEATTLE improve to 62-52 and are 10 games above .500 for the first time all season…are now 12-2 against TEX this season including 9 straight wins over the club…averaged 4.9 R/G over TEX coming into the game, almost a run higher than their season avg (4.0)…improved to 25-10 over their last 25 games and 33-13 over their last 46 games.

GEORGE KIRBY has not allowed more than one walk in his first 16 career starts, extending his MLB record, after allowing only one walk in tonight’s performance…improves to 4-3 on the year after allowing 2 R-ER on 7 H in 5.2 IP, with 1 BB and 5 SO…picked up his first career win against the Rangers after picking up no-decisions in his two previous career starts against TEX earlier this season…

JULIO RODRIGUEZ went 2-for-4 in his first game action since being activated from the 10-day IL on Thursday…his two-RBI single in the 4th inning proved to be the difference in the game…has registered at least a hit in 10 of the 13 G, with a .275 avg (14-51), he has played against TEX this year.

MITCH HANIGER faced TEX for the first time this season after being on the IL for a majority of the season (4/16-4/29, 4/30-8/6)…extended his season-high hitting streak to 9 G after a 3-for-5 performance…he’s hitting .455 (10-22) during the span, which spans from April to August due to IL stints… tied a season-high with 3 H (last 8/8 vs NYY).

MISCELLANEOUS: Rangers manager Chris Woodward was ejected in the bottom of the 4th inning by home plate umpire Jerry Meals, Woodward’s 1st ejection of the season…Josh Sborz made his 1st career MLB start tonight (1.0 SHO IP) after each of his first 87 career appearances came as a reliever…both teams combined to go 4-for-19 with runners in scoring position tonight, leaving a total of 18 men on base (11-SEA, 7-TEX).