TEXAS 4
SEATTLE 3
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ARLINGTON, Texas 鈥� Seattle closer Fernando Rodney didn鈥檛 let a ball get out of the infield in the ninth inning. Unfortunately for the Mariners, the Rangers did enough to come away with a 4-3 victory Monday night.
鈥淭here鈥檚 never one thing that causes you to lose a game,鈥� Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said. 鈥淲e just didn鈥檛 play very well.鈥�
Rodney walked Adrian Beltre to force in winning run to extend Texas鈥� winning streak to five games. The Rangers loaded the bases on two bunt hits and a hit batter.
Shawn Tolleson (5-2) worked a scoreless ninth inning for Texas to earn the victory. Rodney (5-5) took the loss and he said didn鈥檛 have command problems.
鈥淚 think I made good pitch to try to get out of the inning,鈥� said Rodney, who said he was trying to get Beltre to hit a ground ball. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 baseball.鈥�
Rodney entered in the ninth and couldn鈥檛 field a leadoff bunt by Ryan Strausborger. Delino DeShields bunted toward third and beat out the throw by Kyle Seager, who said he hesitated too much.
鈥淚 was in. I knew how fast he was,鈥� Seager said. 鈥淚 came up and took a peek at second just to see if there was a play there.鈥�
The Mariners tagged Cole Hamels for seven hits in seven innings to go with four walks, which equaled his season high, but managed only three runs off him. Hamels allowed the first two batters to reach in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings, but Seattle couldn鈥檛 put together a multi-run inning.
With runners on first and second beginning the fifth, Ketel Marte bunted to third with Beltre playing in. He snapped a throw to shortstop Elvis Andrus covering third to get the lead runner.
The Mariners had runners at first and third with one out in the seventh when Seager hit a fly to right. Shin-Soo Choo made the catch in medium right field and threw home on the fly nab Logan Morrison.
鈥淲e had opportunities to drive in runs; we didn鈥檛 get it done,鈥� McClendon said. 鈥淲e had some plays we should have made earlier and didn鈥檛 make. They threw us out on a tag play. They threw us out on a bunt play.鈥�
CRUZ KEEPS CRUISING
Nelson Cruz went 1-for-3 with a walk to extend his streak of consecutive games reaching base to 28. It鈥檚 the longest in the league this season and a career high.
WALKER鈥橲 RUN CONTINUES
Right-hander Taijuan Walker allowed three runs in six innings for his fifth consecutive quality start. He gave up 10 hits and one walk but limited Texas to 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
TRAINER鈥橲 ROOM
Mariners: LHP James Paxton (strained left middle finger) is scheduled to throw a simulated game Tuesday. Paxton (3-3) has been sidelined since late May.
Rangers: RHP Yu Darvish threw Monday for the first time since having Tommy John surgery in March. He threw 25 pitches at 45 feet and is scheduled to throw again Wednesday and Friday.
UP NEXT
Mariners: RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (4-2), the American League Player of the Week, comes off a no-hitter pitched last Wednesday at home against Baltimore.
Rangers: RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez (2-4) hasn鈥檛 won since his second start of the season in early June, compiling four losses and two no-decisions since.
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01:02ET 18-08-15
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