Mariners’ Vargas gets a win
Wells’ single beats host Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas – Casper Wells had the tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh inning for the Seattle Mariners in a 4-3 victory over the American League West-leading Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.
Wells walked twice and had two singles, the last one driving in Mike Carp, who started the seventh with a bloop single off reliever Koji Uehara (1-2).
Jason Vargas (7-10) went seven innings with three strikeouts and four walks. The left-hander threw a season-high 121 pitches to get his first win in his last seven starts – he had gone 0-5 since his shutout within a month July 1 against San Diego.
Brandon League worked the ninth for his 27th save in 31 chances after Jamey Wright got through the middle part of the Texas lineup in the eighth allowing only a single.
The Rangers finished a 4-2 homestand before going on the road for their next 10 games.
They maintained a 11/2-game division lead over the Los Angeles Angels, who lost 9-3 at Yankee Stadium earlier Wednesday.
It was another inconsistent outing for Rangers starter Derek Holland, who struck out seven and walked five over six innings. The left-hander did allow only three runs, one of them unearned after his fielding error.
With the bases loaded in the second, Trayvon Robinson took a full swing and hit a dribbler in front of the plate.
Holland fielded the ball but couldn’t get it out of his glove as Franklin Gutierrez scored on the error.
Ichiro Suzuki then hit another comebacker, but Holland made that play to get that runner out at the plate.
Carp had already extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a two-run homer in the third that made it 3-0.
Carp’s fourth homer came after Dustin Ackley led off the inning with a single.
Josh Hamilton led off the Rangers fourth by pulling a liner into the right-field seats for his 14th homer.
An inning later, catcher Yorvit Torrealba led off with an infield single after catcher Miguel Olivo couldn’t hold onto a foul pop near the Rangers dugout.
Ian Kinsler’s towering flyball fell just behind the 14-foot wall in left field for his 18th homer and a 3-all tie.