Rangers Claim Series against Mariners

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

June 3, 2023

Rangers 16, Mariners 6

ARLINGTON, Tex. (June 3) — The Texas Rangers reached double digits in runs once again on Saturday, beating the Seattle Mariners, 16–6. Home runs by Leody Taveras, Marcus Semien, Nathaniel Lowe, and Mitch Garver were the difference makers in this one. With Saturday’s win, the Rangers take this three-game series against the Mariners. They’ll go for the sweep on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 pm Central. Right-hander Bryce Miller (3–2, 3.00 ERA) will take the mound for the Mariners. The AL Pitcher of the Month, Nathan Eovaldi (7–2, 2.42 ERA), will get the ball for the Rangers.

Mariners Strike First

The Mariners got on the board quickly in the top of the first. Center fielder Julio Rodriguez scored on a single to center by Jarred Kelenic. The Rangers answered right back in the bottom of the first. Corey Seager plated Marcus Semien with a sharp single to center, tying the game at 1–1. Later in the inning, Jonah Heim made it 3–1 on double to left that allowed Seager and Adolis Garcia to score. The Rangers added to their lead in the bottom of the second, once again, on the bat of Seager. This time, he doubled to right, again driving in Semien as well as Ezequiel Duran.

Nathaniel Lowe was due up next. He promptly brought Seager home with a single to center. It remained 6–1 in favor of the Rangers until the top of the fourth. The Mariners got a run back on a double to left by Jose Caballero. Tom Murphy was able to score on the play. Three batters later, AJ Pollock scored on a force out grounded into by Rodriguez. The Rangers regained their four-run lead in the bottom of the fourth on an infield single to third. Marcus Semien scored his third run of the afternoon on this play. The Rangers added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth thanks to the bat of Leody Taveras. With Heim and Duran both on base, Taveras deposited a three-run blast into the seats in left.

Rangers Keep Pouring it On

The Rangers weren’t finished yet. Marcus Semien belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, scoring his fourth run of the day. His four runs on the afternoon is a career high, as are his four hits in this one. He also extended his hitting streak to 22 games, which leads the majors. The score at this point was 13–3 in favor of the Rangers. Nathaniel Lowe added two more with his sixth home run of the season. The Rangers final run over the Mariners came on yet another blast. It was of the solo variety by catcher Mitch Garver.

The Mariners, however, made things interesting in the top of the ninth. A single to right by Ty France drove in Caballero to make it 16–4. Then, Teoscar Hernandez plated France and Sam Haggerty. Despite their efforts, that is where the offensive spark faded for the Mariners. Those four runs were given up by lefty John King.

Pitching Notes

Rangers starter Andrew Heaney did not factor into the decision of Saturday’s win (ND, 3.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R-ER, 4 BB, 5 SO, 78 pitches/44 strikes). He lasted only three innings in his second-shortest start of the campaign (2 2/3 IP on April 4 against the Baltimore Orioles). Heaney struggled with his command throughout the afternoon, issuing a season high-tying four walks (May 3 against the Arizona Diamondbacks). Saturday’s brief appearance snapped his run of four straight quality starts and inflated his season ERA from 3.76 to 4.03. Josh Sborz came on in relief in the fourth. He pitched two innings, struck out two, and got the win. He is now 2–2 on the year with an ERA of 4.26.

Mariners starter Bryan Woo took the loss in his major league debut (L, 2 IP, 7 H, 6 R-ER, 1 BB, 4 SO). Woo became the second Mariners pitcher to make his major league debut with a start in 2023 (also Bryce Miller on May 2 against the Oakland Athletics). He is the tenth pitcher to make a start for the Mariners this year. At 23 years, 124 days, Woo is youngest to make his major league debut with a start for the Mariners since Andrew Moore on June 22, 2017 against the Detroit Tigers.

Fancy Fifteen

The Rangers erupted for 16 runs on a season-high 19 hits (most since 20 hits on September 8, 2019 at the Orioles) on Saturday. Home runs by Leody Taveras (three-run, fifth inning), Marcus Semien (three-run, seventh inning), Nathaniel Lowe (two-run, seventh inning.), and Mitch Garver (solo, eighth inning.) highlighted the barrage. The club’s season-high 10 extra-base hits (4 HR, 6 2B) were its most since September 13, 2022 against the Athletics (also 10 XBH). The 16-run explosion marked the fifth time this season in which the Rangers have scored 15+ R in a game (last 16-8 win on May 7 against the Los Angeles Angels).

It is already tied for the most such games in a single season in WSH/TEX franchise history (also 1998). The 2023 Rangers are the third team in baseball’s modern era (beg. 1901) to tally as many as five games with 15+ R in the first 57 games of a season. They join the 1950 Boston Red Sox (five) and 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates (five) in that category. The Rangers lead the majors with 364 runs scored this season. That’s good for second-most thru 57 games in franchise history (367-1998), and the most by any club over the first 57 games of a campaign since the 2001 Colorado Rockies (367 runs).

Bochy Climbs the Ranks

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy earned his 2,040th career managerial win on Saturday. He is now tied with Hall of Fame manager Walter Alston for 10th place on Major League Baseball’s all-time managerial wins leaderboard. The next manager on that list is Hall of Famer Joe McCarthy (9th place, 2,125), and the only active skipper with more lifetime wins than Bochy is Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker (8th place, 2,127).

Postgame Comments

In his postgame media session, Bochy was asked about moving into a 10th-place tie with Alston in wins. He said, “It’s humbling. As a kid, I watched the Dodgers quite a bit, and it really amazes me that I’ve been doing this as long as I have, and to be mentioned in the same sentence as Walter Alston. But, all those guys did all the work to get this win, and that’s what counts.”