Mariners Sweep Rangers on Late Blast

Texas, 2-5 on its longest road trip of the season, heads to Anaheim to take on the Angels for four games.

The Seattle Mariners defeated the Texas Rangers 4-2 on Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.

The Rangers (43-54) are now 2-5 on the road trip. Texas was coming off a gut-wrenching 5-4 loss to Seattle late Tuesday night. The Mariners (54-45) swept the series.

The Rangers started their best right-hander, Jon Gray, who had thrown 13 scoreless innings in his last two starts going into Wednesday game. But gave up a run to Seattle in the second inning, the result of an RBI double by Sam Haggerty to drive in J.P. Crawford.

The Rangers answered in the top of the fifth off Mariners starter Marco Gonzalez. He gave up his first two hits of the game that inning, as Adolis García singled to extend his hit streak to nine games and later scored on Charlie Culberson’s RBI double.

The Rangers then took a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth as Jonah Heim’s double to left scored Eiler Hernandez, who started at first base in place of Nathaniel Lowe and singled earlier in the inning.

But the Mariners rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead for good.

Julio Rodriguez homered for the second straight game, hitting a three-run shot that brought home Cal Raleigh and Haggerty.

Gray took the loss for the Rangers, giving up all four runs in 6 1/3 innings of work. He struck out eight and walked four.

The Rangers announced on Wednesday that they signed their fourth-round pick, pitcher Brock Porter, to a contract. That comes a day after the team announced the signings of seven players, including first-round pick Kumar Rocker.

Rangers No. 2 prospect Josh Jung will also reportedly begin an injury rehab stint in Arizona on Thursday. He hasn’t played this season due to shoulder surgery in February. If his rehab progresses, he would be with a Rangers affiliate in a week to 10 days.

Texas starts a four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim on Thursday, the final leg of their longest road trip of the season. The Rangers have set their rotation for the series. Spencer Howard will start on Friday, followed by Martín Pérez on Friday, Glenn Otto on Saturday and Dane Dunning on Sunday.

The Rangers finally return home for a seven-game homestand on Monday, beginning with a three-game set with the Orioles, with Gray as the expected starter.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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