Mariners Take Series Opener from Rangers

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

September 20, 2024

Mariners 8, Rangers 2

ARLINGTON, Texas (Sep. 20) — The Texas Rangers lost their series opener to the Seattle Mariners, 8–2, on Friday night in front of a crowd of 33,387. They fell victim to a two-home run performance by Julio Rodriguez. They’ll try to even this three-game set on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 pm Central. Right-hander Emerson Hancock (3–4, 4.83 ERA) will take the mound for the Mariners, while righty Max Scherzer (2–4, 3.95 ERA) will get the ball for the Rangers.

Early Lead for the Mariners

The Mariners got their first lead of the evening in the top of the third against righty Jacob deGrom. It came courtesy of a solo home run to right-center by Josh Rojas, his eighth of the year. Many fans in attendance took exception to Rojas raising an index finger above his head in triumph as he circled the bases afterwards.

The Rangers took a 2–1 lead in the bottom of the fourth off Mariners starter George Kirby. Josh Smith led off with a single to right. Two batters later, Adolis Garcia moved Smith to third with a double to left. Both runners scored moments later on a single to center by Nathaniel Lowe. These two runs proved to be a moral victory for the Rangers, as they were the first runs that they have scored off Kirby all season.

Mariners Mix Gas with Leiter Fluid

The Mariners recaptured the lead in the top of the fifth against Rangers reliever Jack Leiter. J.P. Crawford opened the frame with a single to center. After Rojas grounded back to Leiter, Victor Robles reached on a fielding error by Jonathan Ornelas at third, moving Crawford up two bases. On deck was Rodriguez, who belted a three-run homer to left, his 17th of the season, giving the Mariners a 4–2 lead.

Rodriguez didn’t stop there, however. He hit a two-run blast to right off Leiter in the top of the seventh to mark the fourth multi-homer game of his career. Robles reached on an infield single to short in the preceding plate appearance.

The Mariners scored two more in the top of the eighth. Justin Turner drew a walk to open the inning, and Jorge Polanco followed with a single to center. Dylan Moore was brought in to pinch-run for Polanco. Up next was Crawford, who drew a free pass, loading the bases. Rojas plated Turner with a sacrifice fly to center and Moore scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Robles.

What Went Right for the Mariners

Rodriguez was responsible for five of the Mariners’ eight runs on Friday. It’s a safe bet that Rangers fans who were keeping score in the ballpark got a little anxious when it came time to fill in the boxes next to his name each time he came up. The Mariners also got a couple of runs via the sacrifice fly. It’s always good when a team finds multiple ways to get runs across the plate.

What Went Wrong for the Mariners

The only hiccup that the Mariners had all night was the two-run single by Lowe in the bottom of the fourth.

Second Outing for deGrom

Rangers starter Jacob deGrom made his second start of the season and did not factor into the decision after allowing one run, earned, on three hits over three frames. His line was 1 BB, 5 K, 58 pitches/37 strikes. The lone damage against him came via the Rojas solo shot leading off the third. His four-seam fastball averaged 97.6 mph, up 0.4 mph from his first outing last Friday.

deGrom fanned five on Friday, bringing his season total to nine in 6 2/3 innings. Each of the last two Rangers starting pitchers has recorded five or more strikeouts in outings of three innings or fewer. There have now been 20 such outings in Rangers history.

After tossing six innings in which he surrendered seven runs, six earned, on six hits, Leiter took his third loss of the season. He is now 0–3 with an ERA of 9.74. He also walked two and struck out five in his outing on Friday.

Kirby’s Night

Mariners starter George Kirby fired six frames yielding two runs, both earned, en route to his career high-tying 13th win. He is now 13-11 with an ERA of 3.60 this season. His line on Friday was 5 H, 0 BB, 4 K, 0 HR, 85 pitches/60 strikes.

Kirby had pitched 34 consecutive scoreless innings against the Rangers before surrendering the two-run single to Lowe in the fourth, snapping what was the longest active scoreless streak by a pitcher against a single opponent, credit Stats Perform.

Kirby did not walk a batter for the 14th start as he’s permitted only one free pass over his last four games. He entered Friday ranking 1st in the majors in K/BB and 2nd in BB/9. He improves to 7–0 in nine career starts against the Rangers, posting a lifetime 1.16 ERA.

Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy reflected on deGrom’s start on Friday. “Jacob was good,” said Bochy. “They fouled a lot of balls off, the pitches caught up to where we were going to take him. So good stuff, it was a good outing for him. He’s just going to get stronger and stronger and even better with stuff and command. It’s hard to get much better, though. He did a great job.”