Mariners can’t dig out of early hole in 9-6 loss to Rangers

SEATTLE – Twice in August, the Mariners erased multi-run deficits against Cole Hamels, Texas’ marquee trade-deadline acquisition. A third trip to the well Tuesday night came up just short.

The Rangers battered Taijuan Walker for three early home runs in a 9-6 victory at Safeco Field that further dimmed any hopes the Mariners had of mounting a September charge after their recent five-game winning streak.

Hamels (3-1 with Texas) pretty much sailed through the first six innings before the Mariners made things interesting.

A three-run seventh closed the gap to 7-4 and, after Texas added a run in the eighth, the Mariners got a two-run homer later in the inning by Robinson Cano against reliever Jake Diekman.

That was it, though.

Keone Kela worked through the eighth after replacing Diekman. After the Rangers scored a tainted run in the ninth, Shawn Tolleson closed out the victory for his 31st save.

So, bottom line, the Mariners suffered a second straight loss following an encouraging 7-3 trip through Chicago, Houston and Oakland.

They also fell back to seven games under .500 at 66-73, which puts them eight games behind the Rangers for the American League’s final wild-card spot with 23 games to play.

So it’s getting dark.

Sure, there were positives:

Kyle Seager extended his hitting streak to 11 games, and Mark Trumbo reached double figures at 10. Jesus Montero had two hits in his first game back from a quick tuneup stay at Triple-A Tacoma.

Utilityman Shawn O’Malley made a couple of nice catches in center field. Rookie reliever Mayckol Guaipe had, perhaps, his best outing in retiring all five batters he faced.

Just not enough.

The Rangers jumped to a 1-0 lead when Mitch Moreland drove a 2-0 fastball into the right-field seats for a one-out homer in the second.

Joey Gallo led off the third with a single through the right side and went to second when Will Venable singled.

Shin-Soo Choo worked the count full before golfing a 92-mph fastball from Walker (10-8) into the right-field seats. Texas led 4-0.