Marco Gonzales shuts down another foe, M’s beat Rangers 2-1

SEATTLE – Marco Gonzales is answering all those preseason questions about his place in Seattle’s rotation.

Hard to argue with his results of late.

Gonzales pitched into the seventh inning and did not allow an earned run for a third consecutive start, helping the Mariners top the Texas Rangers 2-1 on Monday.

Seattle won for the ninth time in 10 games and reached 13 games above .500 for the first time since late in the 2014 season. And it was once again a one-run win. The Mariners have been held to three runs or less in seven of the past eight games, but are 7-1 in those games thanks largely to their pitching.

Gonzales was just the latest performance, running his streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to 19 1/3.

“Yes, there was a lot of questions from a lot of people. I’m really happy for him,” manager Scott Servais said. “I think that’s what our scouts saw when we made the trade for him. The guys in the front office recognized if we get this guy, get him back completely healthy and in a really good environment he could be a guy that could carry innings.”

Gonzales (5-3) lasted 6 2/3 innings and has not allowed an earned run since May 12 when he gave up four runs in a loss to Detroit. His only issue against Texas was walks. Gonzales walked four, including Ryan Rua with two outs in the seventh inning to conclude his day.

“I’m not trying to pay too much attention to that,” Gonzales said of his recent performances. “I’m trying to keep my approach simple, throw a lot of strikes, get ahead of guys and good things will happen when you do that.”

James Pazos got the final out of the seventh, before letting the duo of Alex Colome and Edwin Diaz work together for the first time. Colome, an All-Star closer acquired from Tampa Bay late last week, struck out a pair sandwiched around a two-out hit to finish the eighth inning, and Diaz pitched the ninth for his 19th save.

Seattle has 16 one-run wins, best in the majors.

“Winning is just fun. I won’t lie, it would be nice if we go out tomorrow and win by like 10. That would be awesome,” Seattle’s Kyle Seager said.

The only run for Texas came in the third inning when Rougned Odor reached on a bunt single and eventually scored on a passed ball.