7/24/26

(Arlington, TX) While no team in the AL West has taken control of the wide-open division, head-to-head matchups look like they will decide who makes it to the playoffs as likely the lone representative in the division. The defending champions in the Seattle Mariners entered a four-game set with the first place Texas Rangers just half of a game back while both the Houston Astros and the Athletics still have hopes of claiming the division. For the M’s to repeat as division champs, they had to take care of business on the road in Arlington as the schedule now turns into quite the gauntlet.

For the Texas Rangers, they could deal a big blow to Seattle’s division hopes with a 4-2 lead in the season series and a series win locking up the head-to-head tiebreaker between the two. Both teams have lived through their pitching with both lineups leaving a lot to be desired and those factors added together meant we were likely headed for a very tight series.

In a series full of enticing pitching matchups, things started off with a good one on Friday night. MacKenzie Gore would have the ball for Texas as the lefty faced the Mariners for the third time this season. Bryce Miller would have the start for Seattle as the Texas native returned home looking to set the tone for what the Mariners hoped would be a big series.

Rangers 5, Mariners 4 (Game One, July 24th)

Texas came out of the gates hot and landed the first shot on Friday night. In the bottom of the 1st, the Rangers were already feeling good after a 1-2-3 inning by MacKenzie Gore. Bryce Miller got off to a nice start with a Joc Pederson fly out before Wyatt Langford came to the plate. Langford got a splitter up in the zone and he wasn’t missing a rare mistake by Bryce Miller and hammered it out to left for a solo shot. Langford’s 12th homer of the season got the scoring started and gave Texas a 1-0 lead.

Seattle would threaten big time against Gore in the 2nd. With a habit of one very long inning lately for the lefty, the M’s made that the 2nd inning here as a walk by Josh Naylor and single for Cole Young put two on with one out. Mitch Garver would go down on strikes for a big second out but Weston Wilson would be the unlikely hero for Seattle. A base hit to right cashed in on the opportunity as Naylor scored to tie the game 1-1. Colt Emerson followed with a walk to load the bases, but they were left loaded as Randy Arozarena grounded out to force the Mariners to settle for just the lone run despite forcing Gore to throw 31 pitches in the inning.

Miller settled in after giving up a couple of extra base hits in the 1st but MacKenzie Gore recovered from his rough 2nd inning as well. The pitchers settled in but Texas would hurt one of their own in the 4th. A single by Ezequiel Duran began the 4th but seemed harmless enough as Miller got a couple of flyouts. With two away, Jake Burger came to the plate and once again did damage to the Mariners. Burger chased a fastball above the zone and drove it the other way and it just had enough to get out for Burger’s 18th home run of the season. The two-run shot put the Rangers back in front 3-1.

Trying to respond quickly, the Mariners put some traffic on in the 5th. Colt Emerson and Randy Arozarena both singled out of the gate to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Julio Rodríguez was unable to bring home a run as he popped out to second but Dominic Canzone had it all covered. A great AB by Canzone saw him behind 0-2 before fouling off a couple of pitches and holding off a fastball. He would chase a slider just off the plate up drove it the other way to left center all the way to the wall. Emerson and Arozarena both scored on Canzone’s 14th double of the year and we were tied back up 3-3.

Seattle forced Texas to go to their bullpen in the 6th but the M’s had to dip into their pen in the home half of the inning as well. A one-out single by Brandon Nimmo followed by a walk for Evan Carter put two on and brought Eduard Bazardo into the game as Miller’s night was done without a strikeout recorded. One pitch from Bazardo had Texas feeling good as Jake Burger singled home Nimmo to give the Rangers the 4-3 lead with runners on the corners. A safety squeeze bunt by Nicky Lopez added another one as Bazardo’s flip home wasn’t able to get Carter and just like that it was a 5-3 Rangers lead.

While Seattle escaped the 6th without the deficit growing, they couldn’t figure out the Rangers bullpen. Fortunately, Michael Rucker put up a couple of scoreless innings to keep it 5-3 into the 9th where the M’s would have to comeback against All-Star closer Jacob Latz. Colt Emerson would hit his sixth double of the season with one out to bring the tying run to the plate. Randy Arozarena couldn’t reach but moved Emerson to third with a groundout. Colt then scored on a wild pitch with J-Rod at the plate to make it 5-4 and giving Seattle some late life. The comeback wasn’t mean to be though as Latz got Julio to groundout to put an end to game one. The Mariners continued to struggle hitting with runners on and let the Rangers off the hook, dropping the opener 5-4.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Rangers

• Jake Burger- 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
• Wyatt Langford- 1-4, HR, RBI, R
• MacKenzie Gore (ND)- 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO

What’s Next

Texas takes game one of the massive series as Seattle (51-53) are now barely holding on to second place in the AL West. That is because Houston took their opener from the Chicago White Sox and the Athletics also won on Friday, defeating Minnesota 2-0. The Los Angeles Angels were the only other team in the AL West to lose as they were walked off in extra innings in San Francisco. The Rangers hold a 1 1/2 game lead over the Mariners and two game lead over the Astros while the A’s still sit eight back.

Seattle and Texas will continue their four-game series in a nationally televised game on Saturday on Fox at 4:15pm. Seattle must rebound after dropping the opener and will hope Bryan Woo (7-6, 4.16 ERA) can end is road woes. Woo has been incredible at home this season with a 2.20 ERA but on the road has been a very different story as he has a 6.28 ERA in 10 starts away from T-Mobile Park. On the flip side, Nathan Eovaldi (9-8, 4.21 ERA) will have the ball for the Rangers as they look to guarantee at worst a split of the series. Like MacKenzie Gore, Nathan Eovaldi has struggled in July with a 6.00 ERA in three starts. The long ball has hurt Eovaldi this season as he has allowed 22 home runs which is one shy of his career high, including allowing 5 homers in 15 innings in July.

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