The Seattle Mariners will try to win a series on Friday night against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, with the bigger prize — the final American League wild card spot — still in sight.
The Mariners improved to 9-2 against the Rangers this season with an 8-2 victory in Friday’s series opener as Julio Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs and George Kirby allowed two runs on five hits over six innings to improve to 7 -0 in nine career starts against Texas (73-81).
Seattle (79-75) trails the Minnesota Twins, who pulled out a needed 4-2 win at Boston in 12 innings on Friday, by two games with eight more. The Twins currently hold the last of the three wild-card spots in the AL.
The Detroit Tigers, who lost in Baltimore on Saturday, are also a game ahead of the Mariners while the Kansas City Royals, who have dropped five in a row, are clinging to the second wild-card spot, one game ahead of the Twins.
Minnesota holds all possible tiebreakers (multiple ties and head-to-head) with the Tigers, Mariners and Royals.
With every start important, Mariners right-hander Emerson Hancock (3-4, 4.83 ERA) will take on Hall of Fame right-hander Max Scherzer (2-4, 3.95) on Saturday.
Hancock has made one career start against the Rangers, on September 13. He gave up three runs on six hits and a walk in five innings of a 5-4 Seattle win, but he did not figure into the decision.
Scherzer is 4-2 with a 2.97 ERA in nine career starts against the Mariners. He faced them last Friday and gave up two runs with five hits and two walks over four innings in the Mariners’ 5-4 win on Randy Arozarena’s walk-off single.
Rodriguez has six of his 18 home runs this season against Texas. A three-run blast to left in the fifth inning put the Mariners ahead to stay, 4-2, on Friday, and they added a two-run shot to right in the seventh to extend the lead to 6-2. It was the fourth multi-homer game of his career, while his five RBI matched his career high.
“Stick to myself and don’t go too big,” Rodriguez said of his at-bat strategy. “You know I’m a big person. I don’t have to do too much, so I feel like I just stay in myself and put a good swing on the ball and make sure I get solid contact on it. That’s what I’m focusing on now.”
Despite having to make it two games in the standings in the final eight days to have a chance at the postseason, Rodriguez believes the Mariners can do it.
“I think we’re in a really good place right now in terms of scoring and scoring,” he said.
The Mariners have two more games against the Rangers and three in Houston before returning home next season to close out the season against the Oakland Athletics. The Astros have yet to win the American League West but have a five-game lead in the M.
“You just have to win the games you can win, and tonight we went out and did what we had to do,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said after Friday’s game. “We will celebrate for a few minutes and then regroup and try and do it again tomorrow. This is a good win tonight and a good way to start the road trip. We have got a lot of big games ahead of us.”
Texas fell to 3-7 in its past 10 games with its second straight loss, but starter Jacob deGrom, making his first home start since April 28, 2023, after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a bright spot for the defending World Series champions.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner allowed one run — a three-run leadoff homer to Josh Rojas — on three hits over three innings. He walked one and struck out five while touching 99.4 mph on the radar gun. He threw 58 pitches, 37 for strikes.
“He’s good,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “Good stuff. He’s just going to get stronger and stronger and better with his stuff and his commands. But it’s tough. He’s doing a great job.”
DeGrom enjoyed the outing.
“My whole arm feels good, and that’s the most important thing,” deGrom said. “I was able to throw all four pitches and felt good with them, so that’s a huge plus.”
–Field Level Media