Rangers Lose To Mariners
SEATTLE — Franklin Gutierrez had three hits and drove in four runs as the Seattle Mariners survived another rough start from Felix Hernandez to beat the Texas Rangers 14-6 on Monday afternoon.
Gutierrez went 3-for-4 with his 14th home run of the season and came a triple short of hitting for the cycle on a day when the Mariners (70-67) piled up 14 hits and chased Texas starter Cole Hamels in the second inning.
The Rangers (82-56) have lost two in a row after having their seven-game winning streak snapped Sunday against the Houston Astros. Texas had won its previous five head-to-head meetings with Seattle, having swept the Mariners in Arlington last week.
Gutierrez and Robinson Cano each homered for the Mariners, who used a six-run sixth inning to pull away. Seattle first baseman Dae-Ho Lee added two hits and three RBIs.
Texas second baseman Rougned Odor hit his 30th home run, and his sixth in six games, as the Rangers tried to rally from an early 7-0 deficit. His leadoff shot in the sixth pulled Texas to within 8-6.
Gutierrez hit a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth, an
inning that saw the Mariners send 11 batters to the plate while scoring six times on the way to a 14-6 lead.
The Mariners pounded Hamels for seven runs over the first two innings, using home runs from Cano and Gutierrez to build a 7-0 lead. Hamels (14-5) lasted just 1 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs off seven hits.
Cano started the offense with his 32nd home run, a two-run shot that gave Seattle a 2-0 lead. Lee added an RBI single and catcher Jesus Sucre hit a two-run single as the Mariners pulled ahead 5-0 in the first.
Gutierrez’s solo home run and another Lee RBI single put the Mariners up 7-0 in the second.
Texas responded with a five-run inning of its own, as Hernandez issued three walks and was victimized by a three-run homer from Rangers right fielder Nomar Mazara to cut the deficit to 7-5 in the top of the third.
Gutierrez added another RBI on a fifth-inning single, giving Seattle an 8-5 lead.
Odor’s solo homer brought Texas within 8-6 in the sixth, but the Mariners tagged the Rangers’ bullpen for six runs in the bottom of the inning to put the game away. Gutierrez delivered the big blow with a bases-loaded, ground-rule double that brought in a pair of runs.
Hernandez wasn’t much better than Hamels in a battle of staff aces, although Seattles’ 30-year-old starter got through 5 2/3 innings. Hernandez served up the Mazara and Odor homers while allowing six runs off six hits and four walks while striking out three — his lowest strikeout total since late May.
Odor had three of the Rangers’ six hits while driving in two runs. He has at least two RBIs in six consecutive games and is one game away from the franchise record set by Kevin Mench in 2006.
The Mariners continue to cling to their thin hopes of an AL wild card, while Texas is trying to hold off Cleveland and the AL East winner for home-field advantage in the league playoffs.
