ARLINGTON — When the Mariners woke up Saturday morning, they were ready to face Max Scherzer for the second time in seven days. But four hours before first pitch, Seattle learned it was a familiar opponent taking the mound in Dane Dunning.
That change didn’t affect how the Mariners won against Texas in 2024. It was another day in the park for Seattle’s offense against the Rangers’ pitchers, and they made the most of it for an 8-4 victory at Globe Life Field.
That didn’t particularly affect Julio Rodriguez, who took a pitch to kick off the Mariners’ opening drive Saturday night. He sent a sinker from Dunning to the opposite field to give Seattle a 1-0 lead before most of the Arlington fans could take their seats.
Rodriguez, who hit 4-for-6 with four RBIs that night, continued his reign against the Rangers. Over the last six games against Texas (over a nine-day span), the Mariners center fielder has hit 14-for-28 with five homers, three walks, a double and 14 RBIs.
“The last few weeks, (Rodríguez) has been locked in against everybody,” shortstop JP Crawford said. “I don’t think it’s any one team. He goes out there looking for blood every at-bat. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing.”
The Mariners moved one game ahead of the Royals in the American League wild-card race while keeping pace with the Tigers, who won in Baltimore. Seattle moved a half-game ahead of the Twins, who were rained out in Boston. Seattle is 1 1/2 games behind with seven games remaining.
“I think there’s a good feeling here,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “I think guys are fighting together and they’ve got a lot of confidence in themselves. They’re doing what they need to do on offense.”
Seattle added another run in the first inning when Jorge Polanco scored Randy Arozarena on the fourth hit of the inning to take a quick 2-0 lead before leaving the bases loaded.
After the Mariners stranded two runners in the third inning, Josh Smith tied the game in the bottom half with a two-run home run off Emerson Hancock in the same right-field area where Rodriguez’s first-inning home run landed.
Seattle gave up three runs in the sixth inning, when Rodriguez reversed course again, scoring Dylan Moore on a single before Cal Raleigh and Arozarena followed with singles of their own to regain a 5-2 lead.
The Mariners’ bullpen struggled in the second half, however, as Troy Taylor allowed three walks and an RBI single, the most runners on base he allowed in a single outing in his rookie season. Collin Snider came on to close out the sixth inning, but he gave up a run before Arozarena protected the 5-4 lead with a running catch near the left-field wall, following a 102.2 mph line drive by Marcus Semien and leaving the bases loaded.
“I didn’t think it was going to get out of the ballpark, but it seemed like it kept getting away from him,” Wilson said. “But he was able to chase it down, get a good read and jump on it to track it down.”
The odds didn’t fade for the Texas offense, but the Mariners’ bullpen held the Rangers scoreless in the final three innings to preserve the victory.
On Saturday, Hancock made his second straight five-inning start in eight days against the Rangers. He allowed five hits and two runs and struck out three on 79 pitches.
“My role remains the same every time I get the ball; I want to give us a chance to win,” Hancock said. “I want to go out there and throw my best balls in the zone, let my defense work behind me and see where we can go from there.”
