Rangers Explode For 15 Against Mariners

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ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers scored a season-high 15 runs Saturday night in defeating the Seattle Mariners 15-3 at Rangers Ballpark.

Texas (71-52) posted five runs in the second to take the lead and another eight in the eighth inning to put the game away. All 15 runs scored were without the benefit of a home run, the fourth time that’s happened in club history and first time at home since 1977.

“They were lighting it up against a very good pitcher,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “We got a perfect situation to put a squeeze in and from that point on we just kept grinding and kept things moving.”

Texas extended its lead in the American League West to 1 1/2 games with Oakland’s 7-1 loss to Cleveland.

The Rangers continued to have the number of one of the American League’s best pitchers. Felix Hernandez entered just 12-18 against the Rangers in his career and 0-2 in three starts this season, and failed to earn his first win on the road against Texas since 2010.

Texas sent five across the plate against Hernandez (12-6), all in the second, and knocked him out of the game in the fifth.

For Rangers left fielder David Murphy, the success against Hernandez has

been something that he has downplayed despite having the most RBI of anyone in the league against the right-hander. He brought his career total to 16 against Hernandez with a bases-loaded double in the second.

“It’s not like I look forward to playing the Mariners and saying ‘Oh yes, we are facing Felix,'” Murphy said.

Murphy, who finished the game 2-3 with both hits coming against Hernandez, said that the one thing that he has liked about how the team has played of late is its tenacity.

“There have been times where we might get five runs and not add on the rest of the game,” Murphy said. “But I’ve liked how we use every bit of our 27 outs. The offense is not content until the last out is made.”

The two hits for Murphy marked his second multi-hit game since recording three on July 20 against Baltimore.

“It’s good to see Murphy swing the bat,” Washington said. “I’d like to see him come back tomorrow and do the same thing. If we can get him going it can set things off and get us going.”

Seattle (56-65) fell for the third in its last four games, the lone win coming in the series opener on Friday.

“We are going to forget about this one,” Mariners interim manager Robby Thompson said. “Hopefully everyone does as soon as possible. If you look back it was 5-3 in the seventh inning. We just left one over the plate to Craig Gentry and he hit it for a double to left.”

Martin Perez pitched seven innings for Texas to improve to 6-3 on the year and picked up his third consecutive win. Perez gave up three earned runs while striking out five, allowing eight hits and walking one.

“The most important thing is that we win,” Perez said. “The first three innings I didn’t feel like I was dominant but I continued to fight, and the last four I told myself that I just need to throw strikes.”

The Rangers batted around for the second time in the game during its breakout in the eighth. Texas combined for five hits in the inning, two coming from Ian Kinsler. The eight-run inning was a season-high for Texas at home, and its second-highest total behind a nine-run output on April 2.

Prior to that, the Rangers sent five home in the second, tied for the most against Felix Hernandez this season.

Texas loaded the bases without recording an out thanks to back-to-back singles and a walk to open the inning. Following a strikeout, Jurickson Profar blooped a single to center to drive in a run and Murphy followed with a drive off of the center-field wall for a two-run double.

Leonys Martin laid down a suicide squeeze to score Profar and Elvis Andrus capped the inning with Texas’ fifth hit of the inning to plate Murphy.

Kyle Seager provided two of the Mariners’ three runs. Seager followed up Brad Miller’s lead-off double in the first with a single to open up scoring, and then belted his second homer in as many nights in the third. He extended his hitting streak at Rangers Ballpark to 13 games.

Brendan Ryan drove in Seattle s other run in the second with a single that scored Dustin Ackley from second.

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