Kendrys Morales hits two HRs to lead Mariners past Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Seattle Mariners patiently have waited for Kendrys Morales to come around. Looking to bolster a sagging offense and add a presence to the middle of the order, Seattle reacquired Morales on July 24 in trade with the Twins.

Only the Morales they got back has yet to produce quite like the Morales they saw all of last season - the one who batted .272 with 22 homers and 73 RBI last season for Seattle.

Much of it has to do with going unsigned and missing spring training and the first 21/2 months of the season. He’s never really recovered. Morales came into the game Friday night with a .213 batting average with three homers, five doubles, 17 RBI and a .590 on-base plus slugging percentage since joining the Mariners.

But for one night, the old Morales was back and that should give the Mariners some added hope the rest of September.

Morales belted a pair of two-run homers to lead another productive offensive attack for Seattle in a 7-5 victory over the Texas Rangers. With the Tigers losing to the Giants, the Mariners (77-63) took a half-game lead over Detroit (77-64) in the race for the second wild-card spot in the American League.

It was a big game for Morales, who had hit just .184 (7 for 38) with one extra-base hit in his past 10 games.

Could he be getting hot at just the right time?

The Mariners don’t need Morales to be a home-run slugger – just a productive hitter. It could be a huge factor in the final 22 games of the season.

Morales belted his first two-run shot off Rangers’ starter Scott Baker in the second inning. Kyle Seager drew a leadoff walk and Morales got a hold of a 2-2 sinker and pulled it into the right-field seats.

In the sixth inning, Seager again drew a walk and Morales capitalized, whacking a hanging slider from Shawn Tolleson deep into the right-field stands. It was 12th multihomer game of his career and his third at the hitter-friendly stadium now known as Globe Life Park.

Fernando Rodney made things interesting giving up a run in the ninth, and allowing another base runner to bring the tying run to the plate. But he managed to get Ryan Rua to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the game.