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The old Morales lifts Mariners

Seattle Mariners' Kendrys Morales (21) is met at the plate by Kyle Seager, right, after hitting a two-run home run off Texas Rangers relief pitcher Shawn Tolleson that also scored Seager in the sixth inning on Friday. (Associated Press)
Ryan Divish
Seattle Mariners' Kendrys Morales (21) is met at the plate by Kyle Seager, right, after hitting a two-run home run off Texas Rangers relief pitcher Shawn Tolleson that also scored Seager in the sixth inning on Friday. (Associated Press)
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Seattle Mariners patiently have waited for Kendrys Morales to come around. Looking to bolster a sagging offense and have a presence in the middle of the order, Seattle reacquired Morales on July 24 in trade with the Twins. Only the Morales they got back has failed to produce like the Morales they saw all of last season - the one who batted .272 with 22 homers and 73 RBI last season for Seattle. After having to sit out the first 21/2 months of the season, Morales has looked like a shell of himself. He came into the game Friday 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 at Globe Life Park, the old Morales was back and that should give the Mariners more hope for 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, which had their manager, Ron Washington, resign before the game. It was a nice sign of life for Morales, who had hit just .184 (7 for 38) with one extra-base hit in his past 10 games. The Mariners don’t need Morales to be a home-run slugger, just a productive hitter, and it could be a huge factor in the final 22 games of the season. Could he be getting hot at just the right time? Morales belted his first two-run shot off of Rangers’ starter Scot 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. The Mariners hit two more homers off Baker in the fourth inning, ending his outing. Mike Zunino launched a solo homer to right center to make it 3-0. It was his 20th homer of the season, setting a club record for most home runs in a season by a catcher. He passed the previous mark of 19 held by Miguel Olivo. Endy Chavez followed with a single and Brad Miller yanked a line drive over the wall in right field for his 10th homer of the season to make it 5-0. A five-run lead was nice cushion for Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma, who gave the Mariners a decent performance. It wasn’t his typical efficient brilliance - he actually walked a batter - but it was more than enough to get the victory. Iwakuma pitched into the sixth inning before being lifted by McClendon. He gave up three runs on seven hits with the walk and five strikeouts. Far from dominating numbers, but thanks to a second consecutive game of big run support from the Seattle offense, it didn’t matter. McClendon turned it over to the bullpen with Adrian Beltre on second base and one out in the sixth. Charlie Furbush came in and retired Rougned Odor. McClendon continued to go situational, bringing in Brandon Maurer, who gave up a two-run homer to Adam Rosales to cut the lead to 7-4 before ending the inning. Fernando Rodney made things interesting, giving up a run in the ninth, but managed to end the game and notch his 42nd save.