SEATTLE (AP) — Rougned Odor’s solo home run off Mariners reliever Mike Montgomery in the 11th inning lifted the Texas Rangers to a 2-1 victory over Seattle on Saturday night.
After keeping Texas scoreless for the first 26 outs of the game, Prince Fielder’s two-out home run in the bottom of the ninth inning forced the game into extra frames. With both teams failing to break the tie in the 10th inning, Odor’s blast into the right field seats off Montgomery (2-1) gave the Rangers their first lead of the night.
Norichika Aoki was hit by a Sam Dyson pitch on the right knee to put a baserunner on for Seattle. An infield single from Nelson Cruz put two runners on with two outs, but Kyle Seager flew out to right field as Dyson earned his ninth save of the season.
Matt Bush (2-0) picked up the victory in relief.
James Paxton had his best outing of the season since being called up to replace an injured Felix Hernandez in the Mariners’ rotation. The left-hander threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings allowed just two walks and six hits with six strikeouts in shutting down the Rangers’ lineup.
Colby Lewis was equally as impressive for Texas. He allowed just three hits over eight innings with no walks and struck out three.. Outside of Adam Lind’s solo home run, only Steve Clevenger reached scoring position for Seattle on a one-out double in the third inning. Clevenger was stranded at third after groundouts from Ketel Marte and Aoki.
Paxton got in trouble after walking the first two batters in the fourth inning. A groundout ball from Odor hit baserunner Nomar Mazara in the heel to record the first out of the inning. A fielder’s choice by Ryan Rua and a strikeout of Fielder stranded Ian Desmond at third base to keep the game scoreless.
Lind provided the only offensive output of the game for either side. Lind lofted a changeup from Lewis into the Mariners’ bullpen behind the left field wall to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.
Paxton allowed a pair of one-out singles to Mitch Moreland and Bobby Wilson in the bottom of the fifth inning, but bounced back with strikeouts of Jurickson Profar and Desmond to keep Texas off the scoreboard.
TRADE FINALIZED
The Mariners sent RHP Justin De Fratus to the Texas Rangers as the player to be named later in a trade from May 29 for 3B/OF Patrick Kivlehan. De Fratus, 28, was signed by Seattle on Dec. 2, 2015. With Triple-A Tacoma, De Fratus was 2-2 with a 3.21 ERA in 19 relief appearances.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rangers: 3B Adrian Beltre took early batting practice on Saturday but is still available only on an emergency basis. Beltre suffered a strained hamstring Wednesday. … OF Shin-Soo Choo (hamstring) went 0-for-3 with two walks in a rehab start for Double-A Frisco on Friday. He’s playing a second game with Frisco Saturday night with a rest day scheduled on Sunday. If all goes well, Choo is expected to join the team in Oakland as soon as Monday.
Mariners: Hernandez is feeling better but still in a walking boot due to a strained calf suffered two weeks ago. He had another MRI on Friday but is still not close to a return. Manager Scott Servais said Hernandez will need more than a couple bullpens to build his arm back up given the time he’s missed already and there’s no set timetable at this point.
UP NEXT
Rangers: LHP Cole Hamels (5-1, 3.32 ERA) allowed just two runs on four hits over seven innings in his only start against Seattle this season on opening day. Hamels is 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA over his last three starts, which matches his longest winless streak as a Ranger. He allowed just two runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts in his last outing against Houston.
Mariners: LHP Wade Miley (6-2, 5.27 ERA) rebounded from his worst outing of the season – allowing nine runs on 12 hits to San Diego – to pitch a scoreless Miley pitched seven innings while allowing four hits, two walks and striking out three. Miley is 0-1 with an 8.25 ERA in two starts against Texas this season.