7/26/26

(Arlington, TX) As we close in on the MLB Trade Deadline, the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers continued their massive four-game series over the weekend. Texas took game one in a tight ballgame which put added pressure on the Mariners. Both teams seem hesitant from really committing to buying at the deadline but a series win for either could completely change their philosophies going into the deadline.

Rangers 7, Mariners 1 (Game Two, July 25th)

Game two of the series took place in a nationally televised game on Fox as the Seattle Mariners looked to even the series with the Texas Rangers. Bryan Woo got the start for the Mariners looking to erase his road woes this season. The always reliable Nathan Eovaldi got the start for the Rangers also looking to right the ship during a rough July.

Texas was off and rolling early on in this game as Wyatt Langford doubled for the 10th time this season with just one out in the bottom of the 1st. Ezequiel Durán would one-up Langford with an RBI triple to right for his third three-bagger of the year to give Texas a lead just three batters in. After Bryan Woo walked Brandon Nimmo, Evan Carter made it three extra base hits in the inning with his eighth double to make it 2-0 with still two in scoring position. The Rangers only brought one of those runners home, a Nicky Lopez RBI groundout, but still dealt some strong early damage with a 3-0 lead after just one inning.

Josh Naylor was caught stealing in the 2nd which wiped away Seattle’s response and the deficit continued to grow. Joc Pederson singled and stole second to get into scoring position with two outs in the bottom of the 2nd and then the thorn in the Mariners side struck again. Wyatt Langford stayed hot against the Mariners with his second double of the game and third extra base hit of the series. This was double number 11 for Langford and scored Pederson. Ezequiel Durán again brought home Langford with an RBI single and Seattle was in a deep hole early, trailing 5-0.

Bryan Woo would strike out three in a row with two men on to prevent Texas from adding on in the 3rd. A double play ball helped him get out of trouble in the 4th, but the bats were not getting anything going against Nathan Eovaldi. That is, until the 5th when Luke Raley extended the inning with a two-out single to right to bring up the returning J.P. Crawford. After missing a week of action, Crawford returned to the lineup and did some damage as well. Crawford hit his 11th double of the season to right field and Raley was able to score from first. Seattle stranded J.P. at second but they were on the board, trailing 5-1.

Seattle managed just three hits off of Nathan Eovaldi on Saturday afternoon and with Bryan Woo struggling again away from home, that was not going to cut it. The bullpen did not help things out either as a couple of two out walks were issued, one by Cole Wilcox and one by Nick Davila, to set the table in the bottom of the 7th. Alejandro Osuna delivered the knockout shot with a two-run double for his fifth double of the season. That put the Mariners in a 7-1 hole and there was no coming back. The M’s managed just two hits in two inning against the Texas bullpen and fell well short as they dropped another game in this crucial series, 7-1.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Rangers

• Nathan Eovaldi (W, 10-8)- 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO
• Wyatt Langford- 3-4, 2 2B, RBI, 2 R
• Ezequiel Durán- 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI, R

Mariners 6, Rangers 4 (Game Three, July 26th)

Game three on Sunday felt like a do-or-die game for the Seattle Mariners as they needed some sort of positive momentum to try to avoid a series loss and potentially a sweep. Needing a stopper, Seattle would turn to Logan Gilbert in a battle of Stetson Hatters. Jacob deGrom would get the ball as well in a Stetson vs. Stetson matchup.

For the second day in a row, Texas started hot and got on the board early. Joc Pederson led off the bottom of the 1st with his 11th double of the season. Wyatt Langford singled to move Joc to third with nobody out. A sacrifice fly by Ezequiel Durán was enough to bring home Pederson to put Texas on the board with a 1-0 lead.

Jacob deGrom cruised through the first two innings, allowing just a harmless single to Josh Naylor. In the 3rd, it looked to be more of the same as he retired J.P. Crawford and Colt Emerson for two quick outs. Cole Young sent a fly ball to deep left center that was almost caught by Evan Carter, but instead landed on the warning track. It turned into Young’s second triple of the season and extended the inning for Julio Rodríguez. His bat would break on a jammer but it died a hero as it short hopped a diving Wyatt Langford for a two-out, RBI single. The back-to-back two out hits evened things back up at 1-1.

Seattle would strand a couple of singles in the 4th and Texas carried over that positive momentum into the home half of the inning. A one-out infield single by Brandon Nimmo saw Logan Gilbert a little banged up but he was OK and stayed in the game. However, he would walk Jake Burger to put two on for Evan Carter. He would make up for the dropped ball that gave Seattle a run with a single to right to score Nimmo and put Texas back in front 2-1. A Nicky Lopez infield RBI single added on another, making it 3-1 Rangers.

That remained the score after Seattle chased Jacob deGrom in the 6th with back-to-back singles with nobody out but they were left stranded. With both bullpens in the game for the last three innings, Seattle needed a rally and their first chance came against Tyler Alexander in the 7th. Two consecutive singles by Colt Emerson and Cole Young put two on and brought the go-ahead run to the plate in J-Rod. He faced new pitcher Cole Winn who got Julio to pop out to the second baseman for a huge second out. In stepped Dominic Canzone and he provided the biggest swing of the season for the Mariners. A 2-0 splitter down in the zone was right in Canzone’s sweet spot and he clobbered his 16th home run of the season down the right field line. That huge swing brought the M’s back from the dead and sparked something because the next pitch was an opposite field home run for Randy Arozarena’s 12th of the season. There was life in the dugout once again as the M’s roared back to take a 5-3 lead.

Texas got a run back in the 8th on Ezequiel Durán’s 11th home run of the season which temporarily made it a one-run game. Dominic Canzone got that run back after Julio was hit by a pitch and Canzone brought him around with his 15th double of the year to make it 6-4 and give Canzone his fourth RBI of the game. Andrés Muñoz was on for the 9th, pitching for the first time in a week but he looked very sharp. Muñoz threw 14 pitches and 9 strikes to strike out the side in order and bring this game to a conclusion. Seattle’s late slugging brought them back and gave some hope back with a 6-4 win over the Rangers.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Rangers

• Ezequiel Durán- 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Evan Carter- 1-3, RBI, BB, SB
• Jacob deGrom (ND)- 5 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO

What’s Next

It is not quite what the Seattle Mariners (52-54), but they split the weekend series and can split the four-game set on Monday afternoon with the Texas Rangers. Houston split over the weekend with the Chicago White Sox while the Athletics dropped the final two with Minnesota to lose the series. Los Angeles would also lose their series in San Francisco. Texas remains at the top of the AL West with a 1 1/2 game lead over Seattle and two game lead over Houston while the A’s and Angels continue to fall farther back.

The Mariners and Rangers will finish their four-game series with a Monday matinee as the series wraps up at 11:35am on Monday. This pitching matchup will favor the Mariners as George Kirby (8-8, 3.57 ERA) gets the start in the finale. He will be looking for his seventh consecutive quality start on Monday in his third start of the season against the Rangers. So far this season, Kirby has thrown 13 2/3 innings against Texas with four runs on 13 hits while walking two and striking out nine as they M’s split his two starts. Kumar Rocker (3-8, 4.13 ERA) will take the start for Texas in the finale. He is coming off his fifth scoreless start of the season when he allowed one hit over six innings while striking out six. It will be the first time the Mariners face Rocker since last July.

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