Rangers Lose Mariners Finale Before All-Star Break

Glenn Otto pitches his best baseball since returning to the rotation, but the red-hot Mariners win their 14th straight.

The Texas Rangers need a break, and now they’ll finally get one.

The Rangers lost 6-2 to the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, their final game before a three-game All-Star Break that will see two of their players head to Los Angeles for festivities and the rest get some much-needed rest.

The Rangers (41-49) lost their fourth straight game and their sixth in their last eight. At the end of May, the Rangers were .500 for the season and hoping to build on that momentum. Now, the Rangers are eight games under-.500 for the first time since April 29 when they were 6-14 after a loss to Atlanta.

The Mariners (51-42) executed the rare four-game road sweep and remained the hottest team in baseball, winning their 14th in a row. Only Atlanta has had a 14-game winning streak this season.

Seattle built a 3-1 lead against Rangers starter Glenn Otto, and then broke the game open against an overtaxed Rangers bullpen. Meanwhile, the only offense the Rangers were able to muster was a solo home run by Marcus Semien in the third inning, which at the time gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead.

Mariners pitching, led by starter Chris Flexen (7-8), held the Rangers to seven hits. One of those hits was an RBI single by Corey Seager in the seventh, which cut Seattle’s lead to 6-2.

Otto (4-6) reached six innings for the first time since May 30 against Tampa Bay, and gave up just five hits and struck out four while walking one. He had the best command on his pitches since returning from the COVID-19 injured list in mid-June. But it wasn’t enough to keep him from leaving the game in line for the loss when Garrett Richards came in relief in the seventh.

The Mariners scored a pair in the fourth on Cal Raleigh’s two-run home run and added a run in the fifth on Ty France’s solo shot.

Otto pitched most of the game after taking a broken bat to his pitching hand after Eugenio Suarez’s single in the second. The wound didn’t seem to hamper his ability to pitch.

The Rangers have the next three days off due to the All-Star Break. The exceptions are pitcher Martín Pérez and shortstop Corey Seager, who will head to the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Pérez was selected as part of the AL pitching staff. Seager was selected to the team on Thursday as an injury replacement for Toronto’s George Springer and will participate in Monday’s home run derby.

After the break, the Rangers have a one-game road trip to Miami to face the Marlins at 12:10 p.m. central, followed by a 10-game west coast road trip in Oakland, Seattle and Los Angeles to close out the month of July.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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