Enduring a three-hour, 13-minute rain delay in Arlington, the Mariners strung together a walk and three singles for two runs in the eighth inning to top the Rangers 4-2 Saturday night and move 1½ games ahead of losing Detroit for the American League’s second wild-card spot.
The Mariners’ fifth win in a row and sixth in seven games pushed them a season high 15 games over .500, and finished after 1 a.m. Central time. Less than 12 hours later Sunday morning, they begin pursuit of a four-game sweep of the Rangers.
Allaying apprehension about a potential injury, starter Chris Young gave the Mariners five innings in which he gave up four hits and two unearned runs. In the fourth, shortstop Brad Miller’s error allowed Tomas aboard, and he scored on a double by Ryan Rua, who came in after a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly.
Kyle Seager tied the game at 2 in the seventh with a two-run homer, and was part of the decisive rally in the the eighth. After Chris Denorfia walked, Seager singled him to third, from where Denorfia scored on a single by Kendrys Morales. Logan Morrison singled home Seager.
Seager finished with three hits, one fewer than Brad Miller, who went 4-for-4.
2 Comments
I was skeptical of the M’s after their failure to win the series against Texas in Seattle but taking (at the very least) 3 of 4 from a bad Texas team, that’s the mark of a good team. Clean up on those bad teams. Go M’s!
As McClendon keeps hammering home, it’s a long season. They may still have a swoon or a streak.