Mariners lose to Texas on 10th-inning balk

SEATTLE – Ian Kinsler scored the go-ahead run on Danny Farquhar’s balk in the 10th inning, handing the Texas Rangers a 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.

Kinsler started the winning rally with one-out single against Farquhar (0-2) for his fourth hit. Kinsler advanced on Adrian Beltre’s single, and then swiped third. After A.J. Pierzynski fouled out to third, home-plate umpire C.B. Bucknor called a balk on Farquhar with Alex Rios at the plate, allowing Kinsler to come home.

Tanner Scheppers (6-2) wiggled out of a jam in the ninth to get the win and Joe Nathan finished for his 38th save in 40 chances as the A.L. West-leading Rangers won for the sixth time in eight games.

A day after coming off the disabled list, Franklin Gutierrez homered for the first time since June 22 for Seattle, which has lost five straight.

All the runs prior to the odd 10th inning came when both starters ran into trouble early before setting down, turning a tie game over to the bullpens after six innings.

Texas starter Derek Holland allowed three runs and six hits, walked four and struck out five. The left-hander is unbeaten in his last six starts, with five no-decisions in that stretch.

Holland walked two of his first three batters, setting up Kendrys Morales’ run-scoring double and Justin Smoak’s sacrifice fly.

M’s starter Hishashi Iwakuma struck out the side in the first but ran into trouble in the second, allowing three runs on four hits, including RBI singles by Mitch Moreland, David Murphy and Elvis Andrus.

Iwakuma needed 55 pitches to get through those first two innings but cruised through his last four, only allowing a pair of singles after the second. The Japanese right-hander allowed seven hits, struck out seven and walked one.

Gutierrez tied it at 3 with a leadoff drive to center in the third. Gutierrez, who missed much of the season with hamstring issues, has six home runs in 69 at bats.

The Mariners looked ready to close out the game in the ninth, but were unable to score after a promising start to the inning.