Rangers Sweep Mariners with Six-Homer Day

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

September 24, 2023

Rangers 9, Mariners 8

ARLINGTON, Tex. (Sep 24) — The Texas Rangers completed their sweep of the Seattle Mariners on Sunday afternoon, winning 9–8. They rode a six-homer day all the way to the finish line in their regular-season home finale, and the joy on their faces was evident. What made it even better for them and their fans is that the Houston Astros lost to the Kansas City Royals, 6–5, earlier in the day. This extends the Rangers’ lead to 2.5 games in the AL West. From here, the Rangers will embark on their final road trip of the season.

They’ll play a three-game set against the Los Angeles Angels, and they’ll face the Mariners one final time for a four-game series. The Angels series will begin on Monday with first pitch scheduled for 8:38 pm Central. Righty Jon Gray (8–8, 4.22 ERA) will get the ball for the Rangers, and lefty Patrick Sandoval (7–13, 4.19 ERA) will take the mound for the Angels.

Six-Homer Day for Rangers

There must have been something added to the Rangers’ pregame spread on Sunday. They tallied six long balls as a team. With Bryan Woo on the mound for the Mariners, Marcus Semien continued his latest trend and hit his 10th leadoff home run of the season with a shot to left-center in the top of the first.

The Mariners answered back in the top of the second off Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi. A solo home run to left-center by Teoscar Hernandez tied the game 1–1. The Mariners pulled ahead 2–1 in the top of the third on a solo shot to right-center by J.P. Crawford. Their lead was short-lived, however.

Leody Taveras led off the bottom of the third with a walk. Two batters later, Corey Seager stepped in and blasted his 33rd homer of the season on a deep fly to right, giving the Rangers a 3–2 lead. Adolis Garcia joined the fun in the bottom of the fourth, as he hit a solo home run to left-center. This made it 4–2 Rangers. Later in the inning, Taveras homered to center, with Mitch Garver on base, to make it 6–2. Garver reached on a single to right moments before. This led Mariners manager Scott Servais to bring in Gabe Speier to relieve Woo. After Speier struck out Evan Carter, Semien crushed the first pitch he saw for his second home run of the afternoon.

Mariners Spark Rally

For the second game in a row, the Mariners fought their way back into it, but it wasn’t enough. With Martin Perez in for Eovaldi in the top of the sixth, Julio Rodriguez scored on a force out grounded into by Jarred Kelenic. On deck was Eugenio Suarez, who plated Cal Raleigh with a sacrifice fly to center. Raleigh reached base on a single to right earlier in the frame. Two batters later, Sam Haggerty entered the game as a pinch-hitter for DH Mike Ford. Haggerty drove in Raleigh with a triple to left to make it 7–5.

In the bottom of the sixth, Carter plated Garver, who drew a walk earlier in the inning, with his fourth home run of the season. That marked a season-high six long balls for the Rangers as they extended their lead to 9–5.

The Mariners fought back again in the top of the seventh. First, Rodriguez crossed the plate on a single to center by Teoscar Hernandez off reliever Chris Stratton. On deck was Jarred Kelenic, who brought home Raleigh with a single to left. Raleigh had drawn a walk earlier in the inning. Suarez followed that up with a single to left that scored Hernandez to shrink the Rangers’ lead to 9–8.

Eovaldi Goes Five

Eovaldi secured his 12th win in his final home start of the regular season. He now owns a record of 12–4 with an ERA of 3.25. Eovaldi allowed five runs, all earned, on six hits. Two of those hits were home runs. Perez gave up two earned runs in relief, and Stratton gave up one. Jose Leclerc came in to pitch the ninth and earned his fourth save of the season in the process.

On the other side, Woo took his fifth loss of the season in his 18th major league start. His line was 3 1/3 IP, 5 H, 6 R-ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 4 HR, 81 pitches/53 strikes. The four home runs he allowed are a career high, while the 3 1/3 innings mark his shortest start since he went 3 1/3 innings on July 18 against the Minnesota Twins. Woo’s record is now 4–5 with a record of 4.39.

A Sea of Ranger Blue

The Rangers’ final total attendance at Globe Life Field this season is 2,533,044. That is an average 31,272 for 81 dates in Arlington in 2023. It marks the club’s highest home attendance figure since 2016 (2,710,402). This year’s attendance was an increase of 521,683 over 2022 (2,011,361), a 25.9% rise in attendance from last year.

Postgame Comments

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy reflected on the sweep in his postgame press conference. “We got through it,” Bochy said. “We used a lot of pitchers, but we found a way to get through it. Great series. It was an entertaining series with a lot of drama. We did what we were hoping to do. To get a sweep, that’s tough to do against a good club like Seattle. We have seven games left here so we’re in a better position than we have been these past months. It just shows you the fight in this club, the determination.”

Eovaldi also fielded questions after the game. He was first asked how he thought his start went. He replied with, “I felt good out there. That sixth inning, I felt I got kind of a bum rap when I left that pitch up to (Julio) Rodriguez. We weren’t able to get the double play when we needed it, but thankfully we’re sitting here talking about a win.” When asked how he’ll prepare for this next road stretch, he said, “I packed like a normal seven-day trip. We can always buy more clothes on the road. Yes, it’s a lot more clear. But we still have a lot of work that has to be done.”