Many play key roles in M’s 6-3 victory over Rangers
SEATTLE – Carlos Triunfel drove in the tiebreaking run in the fourth inning and Miguel Olivo hit a two-run homer in the eighth to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 6-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night.
Hisashi Iwakuma (7-5) held the Rangers to three runs and eight hits in seven innings, and Justin Smoak had three hits and scored two runs for Seattle.
David Murphy had three hits, falling a triple short of the cycle, and drove in three runs for Texas, which remained four games ahead of Oakland in the A.L. West with 12 games remaining. The A’s lost 2-1 in 10 innings against the New York Yankees.
Tom Wilhelmsen pitched the ninth to pick up his 28th save in 32 opportunities.
The Rangers were without third baseman Adrian Beltre (stomach) and outfielder Josh Hamilton (sinus/blurred vision). Beltre should be available today, while Hamilton is out for the weekend series while undergoing tests in Dallas.
Texas starter Martin Perez (1-2) gave up three runs and six hits in four innings. He struck out three, walked two and threw two wild pitches.
Rangers miscues contributed to Seattle’s victory as the Mariners scored one run on an error by Michael Young and another on one of Perez’s wild pitches.
The Rangers tied the score at 2-2 in the fourth. With one out, Young singled to right and advanced to third on Nelson Cruz’s double to left, and both scored on Murphy’s single to center.
The Mariners regained the lead in the bottom of the inning. Triunfel’s double down the left-field line scored Casper Wells all the way from first to put Seattle ahead 3-2. Triunfel moved to third on a fielder’s choice and scored when Young booted Franklin Gutierrez’s grounder.
Murphy made in 4-3 in the sixth with his 14th homer, and Olivo’s shot off Alexi Ogando in the eighth capped the scoring.
Smoak doubled off Perez to open the second inning. It was the first hit Perez yielded to the Mariners in 6 1/3 innings covering three appearances.
Michael Saunders drew a walk. With one out, Wells lined a double into the left-field corner, scoring Smoak and sending Saunders to third. That broke a 0-for-23 streak with runners in scoring position for Wells.
The Mariners added a run in the third as Gutierrez legged out a triple that bounced off the top of the center-field wall and scored on Perez’s wild pitch.
Mariners honored
The Seattle chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America gave out its annual awards, with chapter chairman Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times making the presentation on the field.
The winners: Felix Hernandez, Best Pitcher; Kyle Seager, Best Player; John Jaso, Unsung Hero.
Hernandez’s election is no surprise in a year in which he pitched a perfect game and is a strong Cy Young candidate. He wins for the fifth consecutive year. Hernandez is 13-8 with a 2.85 earned-run average and 207 strikeouts in 220 2/3 innings.
Seager, in his first full major-league season, has had a breakout year with 18 homers and 81 runs batted in, both tops on the team, to go with a .258 average.
Jaso hit .277 with the top on-base (.396) and slugging (.457) percentages on the team.
Notes
Beltre and Hamilton have combined for 76 home runs, 189 runs and 218 RBIs this season. … Young, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a fourth-inning single, has 257 career hits against Seattle, second all-time behind Cal Ripken Jr.’s 261.