Mariners vs. Rangers summary online, scores, stats and highlights
Rangers back on top of AL West after strong offensive display
Rangers back on top of AL West riding strong offensive display
The Texas Rangers have one of the strongest offenses in Major League Baseball. For most of the season, they were far and away the most potent team in the game, and even after their injury-plagued August they have only slipped to third behind the Braves and Dodgers.
What kept the Rangers so far in front through most of the season is the combination of that strong offense and a killer rotation. Where their bats have cooled somewhat through late summer, their pitching has fallen off a cliff.
But not today.
Today, right when the Rangers needed it most, Dane Dunning showed up.
Over four innings, he was virtually unhittable, giving up just two walks and no hits. In the fifth, however, he wobbled, surrendering four hits and being charged with four runs as the Mariners threatened to make the game sporty.
So thankfully, it wasn't only the pitching that showed up but also the Rangers bats. A solo shot from Corey Seager opened things up in the second before a three run blast from rookie Evan Carter set the tone. The Rangers would go on to tack on four more runs through the evening to stay well clear of Seattle at all times.
And when the dust settled, the baseball gods had smiled on Texas. By virtue of a loss for Houston to the Royals, Texas now find themselves where they spent the vast majority of the 2023 baseball season. On top of the AL West.
There is still lots of baseball to play and so you can't for one moment be fooled into thinking that this lead won't change several times again. With six more games against the Mariners still to play, it is unthinkable that they won't bounce back from this. The chances of a Rangers sweep is, frankly, zero.
Not to mention Houston. There is still a long row to hoe for the Rangers, but with this win, they have started off on the right foot and shown everyone, and most importantly themselves, that there is still a lot of fight left in that old dog.
Goodbye!
That is going to do it for our live coverage of the first game of this last Rangers home stand. We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we have. Keep on top of all the baseball news and live reports through the playoffs right here with Diario AS USA. See you soon!
That was a must win game, for both teams, and with the way it stands now, the Rangers could be the new AL West leaders. The Astros have lost in Kansas City and Texas now take possession of first place.
Rangers win!
Ty France jumps on the first pitch. He hits a sharp grounder to the left side. Josh Jung makes the catch, makes the throw, and it is in time! The Rangers win.
You now have Kelenic on 1st, Suarez on 2nd, Raleigh on 3rd and Ty France coming to the plate representing the go-ahead run.
Jarred Kelenic walks on four straight balls.
Mariners score
Eugenio Suarez jumps on the first pitch, a 100mph sinker, that gets through to right field. J.P. Crawford scores from third as Cal Raleigh moves over to third.
Teoscar Hernandez gets low heat before a slider catches him out and hernandez strikes out swinging.
Cal Raleigh goes after the first pitch, a low fastball and rips it to center field, making it into the gap. He rounds up at second with a double as Crawford holds up at third.
Julio Rodriguez comes to the plate and it is all heat. Chapman comes after him with climbing fastballs and Rodriguez loves to chase. He goes after a 102mph fastball for strike three.
Top 9th
PITCHING CHANGE
The Rangers will bring on Aroldis Chapman to slam the door closed here. You can look for Chapman to be worked hard over the next week or so by Bochy.
He will face the top of the order as JP Crawford will lead off. Crawford lines one to left field for a leadoff base hit.
Leody Taveras hits one on the ground on the right side. Ty France comes off the base to field the ball and throws to pitcher Isaiah Campbell covering the bag. He juuuuust gets the foot on the bag in front of Taveras to end the inning.
Mitch Garver goes after an early slider, rolling one out to third for Eugenio Suarez. The throw to first is in time. Two away.
Heim swings at a third strike in the dirt and trots down the line, forcing Raleigh to make the throw to first to get the out.
Bottom 8th
Jonah Heim will lead off for Texas in the eighth. For the Mariners, Dylan Moore will take over at second while Sam Haggerty will stay in the lineup as designated hitter.
Pinch hitter
Dylan Moore will now pinch hit for Josh Rojas. He hits a little bouncer to shorstop. Seager's throw is in time and the inning is over.
Pinch hitter
Sam Haggerty will now pinch hit for Dominic Canzone. He flies one out to shallow left field for the second out.
Ty France will now come up and jumps on the second pitch, hitting a long fly ball to center. Leody Taveras gets it just in front of the warning track for out number one. Kelenic has to hold up at first.
Top 8th
Jarred Kelenic will lead off for Seattle and gets walked on four pitches. Two of those were probably strikes. One defiinitely was.
Adolis Garcia comes to the plate and fouls two off before grounding one to short. J. P. Crawford charges it and makes the throw to first, in time to end the inning.
Josh Jung comes to bat and will face the young right hander from Portugal. Some very good movement on his breaking pitches sees Jung go down swinging. Two down.
Pitching change
Spier looks like he still has good stuff, but Seattle is going to get him out and not take chances. Isaiah Campbell will get the call to work through this inning.
Bottom 7th
Nathaniel Lowe will lead off for Texas in the seventh and fights back from a quick 0-2 to bring it back to 2-2. He chases a high fastball for strike three.
Eugenio Suarez works the count to 2-2 before chasing a beautiful fastball at the top part of the zone for strike three.
Teoscar Hernandez chops a slow roller to third and Josh Jung backhands it before bobbling the transfer. The throw is not in time and that is going to be an error charged to Jung.
Cal Releigh will come up now and works the count full before hitting a hard line drive to center field. Leody Taveras makes a great catch for out number two.
Top 7th
Julio Rodriguez leads off for the Mariners in the seventh and Heaney gets him to chase strike three on a high fastball for one away.
Corey Seager goes after the first pitch and grounds out to second. Josh Rojas to first for the final out.
Marcus Semien stands in now and shows a little more patience, running the count to 2-2 before rolling one to shortstop J. P. Crawford. The throw to first is in time. Two down.
Bottom 6th
Evan Carter leads off for Texas and goes after the first pitch, rolling one softly to third. Eugenio Suarez makes the throw to first and we have one down.
Pitching change
Now it is the turn of Seattle to make a pitching change as they will send Gabe Speier out to take over from Trent Thornton in the sixth.
New pitcher, one pitch. J.P. Crawford grounds the first one he sees to short. Corey Seager makes the throw to first to end it.
Pitching change
The Rangers will get Andrew Heaney out of the bullpen to replace Chris Stratton and see if he can get them out of this mess.
Mariners score
Bases now loaded with two out for Rojas. Stratton can't find the zone and walks a run in. That is going to do it for him. Bruce Bochy doesn't hang around, he is straight out to make the change.
Dominic Canzone jumps on the first pitch and singles on a ground ball to right. Suarez holds up at third, which is probably a good idea given the cannon that Adolis Garcia posseses.
Ty France now will come up with one out and men on first and second. Stratton seems to settle down and finds the zone, throwiing a beautiful fastball past him for strike three. The Rangers needed that. Two down.
Jarred Kelenic will face the new pitcher and Stratton has some trouble finding the strike zone, walking Kelenic on four straight pitches.
Pitching change
Dane Dunning has had an outstanding day here for Texas, but Bochy doesn't want this lead to slip away and will call on the services of Chris Stratton with one out and one on.
Eugenio Suarez rips a sharp line drive to center for a single and Bruce Bochy is going to dip into his bullpen here.
Teoscar Hernandez goes after the first pitch and grounds one to short. Corey Seager makes the throw to first for the out. One away.
HOME RUN SEATTLE!
Cal Raleigh comes to the plate with no outs and runners on first and second. He gets a low changeup and abolutely crushes it! Deep right center and the Mariners are on the board!
Julio Rodriguez comes to the plate now and on the 2-2 delivery, Dunning tries to come inside and it gets away from him, landing right on that elbow guard.
Top 6th
JP Crawford leads off for Seattle and runs the count to 2-2 before nubbing a soft floater toward second. Corey Seager dives for it and it comes off his glove for an infield hit to lead off.
Leody Taveras comes out, the ninth batter of the inning and flies the first pitch out to right fielder Teoscar Hernandez to end the inning. But the Rangers have blown this game wide open. 8-0 at the end of five.
Rangers score
Mitch Garver jumps on the first pitch and lines one to center. It is down for a single! Josh Jung scores from third. Adolis Garcia rounds third and goes for home! The throw is pretty good but not in time! Garcia scores and the Rangers are at 8-0! Jonah Heim advances to second on the play.
Pitching change
That is going to be it for Tayler Saucedo and the Mariners will bring Trent Thornton out of the bullpen to try and end this inning.
Rangers score
Jonah Heim will come up now hitting from the right side and Saucedo is struggling to find the zone. He manages to fight back from 3-1 to run the count full. The payoff pitch misses inside and Saucedo walks in a run. 6-0 Rangers
Adolis Garcia comes up now with two on and two out. He lays off a fastball for a ball and it is followed by three more to walk the bases full.
Josh Jung comes up with Lowe on first and two out and reaches out for an outside pitch, pushing it into right for a single. Nathaniel Lowe moves over to second.
Rangers score
Nathaniel Lowe will be up for Texas now and he hits a slow roller to first. Ty France goes to second for one and the throw back to first is not in time. Carter scores on the play and the Rangers lead 5-0
Pitching change
That is going to be all she wrote for Miller. With runners on the corners and one out, the Mariners will go to the bullpen. Tayler Saucedo will get the nod and try and put out this fire.
Seager nubs a line drive just over second and into right. It falls for a single. A great defensive play by Hernandez keeps Carter at third.
Corey Seager now stands in and on the 1-2 count, Carter takes off with a great jump. The pitch is in the dirt for 2-2 and Carter is safe at second.
Marcus Semien jumps on the first pitch he sees, lining it to center where Julio Rodriguez pulls it down for an out.
Bottom 5th
Evan Carter leads off for Texas and is very picky, fending off what he doesn't want and running the count full. The payoff misses and the Rangers have a leadoff walk.
Josh Rojas hits a long drive to right, but playable. Adolis Garcia gets to it and puts it away to end the inning. So the leadoff double doesn't come back to bite the Rangers and they get out of it.
Dominic Canzone comes to the plate as aggressive as the Mariners have all been, missing the first pitch, but grounding the second one back to the mound. Dane Dunning goes to first for the second out.
Ty France jumps on the first pitch and grounds one to third for Josh Jung. He holds the runner and gets the out at first. One down.
Top 5th
Jarred Kelenic leads off for Seattle and rips the first pitch to right field. It makes it's way to the wall and the Mariners have a leadoff double.
Leody Taveras fouls the first pitch back before popping one high to second for Josh Rojas. He puts it away and that is the second 1-2-3 inning for Miller. We finish four, the Rangers still leadiing 4-0
Mitch Garver now comes up and rips one to shortstop, but directly at J. P. Crawford. The throw to first is in time for out number two.
Bottom 4th
Jonah Heim leads off for Texas and attacks the first pitch. He gets under it and flies it out to right. Teoscar Hernandez pulls it down for the first out.
Eugenio Suarez jumps on the first pitch and hits a bullet back up the middle. The Rangers were playing second close to the bag and Marcus Semien is right there. He backhands it and steps on the bag to get Hernandez on the force to end the inning.
Teoscar Hernandez now stands in and takes the opposite approach, running the count full. The payoff pitch juuuuust misses for ball four.
Cal Raleigh attacks the first pitch and grounds one to third. Josh Jung makes the throw to first for two away.
Top 4th
Julio Rodriguez leads off and he hits a little dribbler back to the mound. Dunning fields it and makes a throw that sees Lowe stretch for it and make the out. One down.
Adolis Garcia tries his hand and hits a sharp one to third. Eugenio Suarez fields it near the line and makes the long throw across the diamond to end the inning.
That was Miller's best inning yet, needing only 8 pitches to put it away.
Josh Jung comes up now and he hits a hard ground ball up the middle. JP Crawford gets to it and makes the throw to first for out number two.
Bottom 3rd
Nathaniel Lowe leads off for Texas and he drives a pretty good shot out to left center. Rodriguez makes a very long run and gets to it for the first out.
The leadoff man back up now and J.P. Crawford is discliplined, working the count to 2-2 before skying a low cutter up to shallow center field. Leody Taveras has plenty of time to drift under it and end the inning.
A very economical inning for Dane Dunning, using only 12 pitches.
Josh Rojas offers at the first strike that he sees, a high fastball, popping it behind third. Josh Jung drifts back and calls for it, putting it away for the second out.
Top 3rd
The DH Dominic Canzone leads off and jumps on an early sinker, sending it out to left field for Evan Carter and we have one down.
Corey Seager now up to the plate and hits a hard shot on the ground to first. Ty France fields it and flips to Miller covering the bag for the final out. The end of two and Texas has jumped out to a big lead 4-0
Marcus Semien now at the plate and gets three straight fastballs, whiffing through the last one to go down swinging. Two out.
HOME RUN TEXAS!
Evan Carter will come to the plate now with one out and two runners. He jumps on the first pitch and it is hard out to right. Hernandez tracks it back and it is gone! A three run shot for the rookie! The Rangers are up 4-0!
Leody Taveras will stand in now, a switch hitter he will go from the left side. He ropes one over the second baseman's head for a soft single to right. Heim moves up to second on the play.
Mitch Garver will come the the plate. Tonight he is in the DH spot.
He is very discerning, running the count full. The payoff pitch sees Miller go back to his bread and butter with that high fastball. Garver swings through it for strike three.
Bottom 2nd
Jonah Heim will lead off for Texas, hitting from the left side. He smacks a hard single up the middle to lead off.
Ty France now comes up with a runner on first and one out. It looks like Dunning is ok, throwing three straight strikes and catching France swinging at a high fastball for strike three to end the inning.
Left fielder Jarred Kelenic gets four breaking pitches that all miss for a free pass. Dunning had grimaced as he struck out Suarez and was briefly visited by the Rangers trainers, but waved them off. You hope that didn't play into those four balls there.
Eugenio Suarez gets in a hole 1-2 and watches a beautiful changeup that runs along that bottom rail for a called strike three.
Top 2nd
Teoscar Hernandez will lead off for Seattle here in the second and they will want to make a quick response to that run by Texas. He gets a low slider and grounds one to third. Josh Jung makes the long throw for out number one.
Adolis Garcia now and he gets much the same pitch, going much the same way. This one however is in shallow right and Teoscar Hernandez is able to charge it and run it down for the final out. At the end of one, Texas goes on top,1-0
Josh Jung gets jammed on a sinker and goes inside out, driving it into the gap in right-center. It splits the outfielders and makes it to the wall for a to-out double.
Nathaniel Lowe now will come to the plate and he waits for the pitch that he wants, running the count to 2-2. A high four-seamer is slapped to Josh Rojas at second, who tosses it to first for the second out.
HOME RUN TEXAS!
Corey Seager now comes to the plate and jumps on the first pitch. It is deep to center and it is long gone! A solo home run for Seager to open the scoring!
Semien goes after a low fastball and flies it out to center field, but Julio Rodriguez is under it for out number one.
Bottom 1st
Bryce Miller will start on the mound for Seattle and he will face Marcus Semien to lead things off.
He opens things up with a good fastball for strike one.
Cal Raleigh will stand in now and he bounces one to the right side. Semien fields it and makes the easy flick to Lowe for the final out. Eight pitches by Dunning in that three up, three down first inning.
Julio Rodriguez will come up to face Dunning now and fouls off three sliders before grounding one to third. Josh Jung goes to first for the second out.
OPENING PITCH
Dane Dunning is on the mound and will face JP Crawford to get things underway here tonight. The crowd is in their seats, the umpires are ready, and here goes the first pitch.
A sinker is slapped to second base, fielded by Semien and thrown to first base for the first out. One pitch, one out.
Memorial for slain police officer
Arlington Police officer Darren McMichael was killed in a hit and run accident yesterday and now just five minutes before the first pitch, the stadium rises and observes a minute's silence in his honor.
Both teams are warming up and we are about 20 minutes away from the first pitch. This game is the start of ten days that will define the entire 2023 season for four teams.
STARTING PITCHERS
SEATTLE MARINERS
Bryce Miller (RHP)
8 - 5
3.88 ERA
113 K
123.0 IP
TEXAS RANGERS
Dane Dunning (RHP)
Dunning
10 - 6
3.78 ERA
127 K
157.0 IP
PITCHING
On the mound, the Rangers will turn to Dane Dunning who has stepped up in a big way this season. After Eovaldi’s spell on the injured list, Dunning has notched up ten wins, mostly through the early part of the year. Since the All-Star break, he has stalled somewhat, but shows signs of improving into the back end of the season, giving up three runs on six hits over six innings to the Blue Jays before holding the Guardians scoreless over five last weekend. Dunning’s slider is his key pitch. With it working, he is close to lights-out. If not, the Mariners righty-heavy lineup can pick him apart.
On the other side of the field, the Mariners will call on Bryce Miller to get the job done. More or less a one-pitch fastballer, Miller can blow heat past lineups in quick time. His slider and changeup are in the mix, but neither is dominant enough to take up the slack from his heater. Miller’s last outing was a stinker and even as Texas is hoping for Dunning’s best slider, so is Seattle banking on Miller’s heat being on point tonight.
LINEUPS
The Home Team
Rangers Batting Order
1. Semien (2B)
2. Seager (SS)
3. Lowe (1B)
4. Jung (3B)
5. García (RF)
6. Heim (C)
7. Garver (DH)
8. Taveras (CF)
9. Carter (LF)
The Visitors
Mariners Batting Order
1. Crawford (SS)
2. Rodríguez (CF)
3. Raleigh (C)
4. Hernández (RF)
5. Suárez (3B)
6. Kelenic (LF)
7. France (1B)
8. Canzone (DH)
9. Rojas (2B)
WELCOME!
Welcome to the Diario AS USA live commentary of the game one of the first of two series over the next week between two heavyweights, as the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers slug it out for their very playoff lives.
We are ramping up into the final days of the regular season and will hit the ground running with full coverage of the MLB post season as the battle to get to a 2023 World Series champion heats up.
Tied at 84-68, these two teams are both sitting a half a game behind the Houston Astros at the top of the AL West. This division has been the fiefdom of the Rangers all season, but after the All-Star break, the wheels fell off their season and the Astros assumed control, which they have yet to relinquish.
Struggling to right the ship, the Rangers have fought back into contention as the Mariners put on a late-summer run of their own.
Forget about being half a game back from the Astros in the AL West. As this point, winning the division is just for bragging rights. More crucially, both of these teams are also half a game behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the race for the second Wild Card spot. This is a true cinematic Mexican standoff, where everybody has a pistol pointed at their head and the first one to blink will find their season suddenly come to an end.
Forget the calendar, forget October. The playoffs start tonight, right here.