Texas Rangers jump all over Seattle Mariners starter Vidal Nuno

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Godfather II aside, most sequels are disappointments – a truth that Seattle Mariners lefty Vidal Nuno greatly reinforced Saturday night in a 10-1 clubbing by the Texas Rangers.

It was just 10 days earlier that Nuno held the Rangers to one hit over seven innings in a 6-0 victory at Safeco Field.

Texas got three hits Saturday in the first inning at Globe Life Park. Nuno was gone before the end of the fourth. And the pulse on the Mariners’ already dim postseason hopes faded a bit more.

“Unfortunately, they found holes,” Nuno said. “I was trying to hit the outside corners. When you don’t get those calls, it’s going to be a long day on the mound.”

It was that and more. Not just for Nuno, either. The Mariners’ bullpen, which entered the game with a streak of 21 1/3 straight scoreless innings, spit the bit for five runs in 4 2/3 innings.

“We’ve got some young kids,” manager Lloyd McClendon said. “They’re trying to find their way. They’re inexperienced and, at times, they’re overmatched. It is what it is. We’ll deal with it, and we’ll make them better.”

Nuno (1-3) gave up five runs in 3 1/3 innings. One run was unearned but fully deserved since it was his throwing error. The Rangers then piled on against the underbelly of the Mariners’ bullpen.

“We were patient early,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said. “We didn’t fire on pitches out of the strike zone on a guy that we struggled with the last time we saw him.”

Seattle pulled second baseman Robinson Cano and left fielder Franklin Gutierrez from the lineup when Texas came up in the sixth.

Gutierrez provided the only run against Texas starter Cole Hamels with a leadoff homer in the second inning that, briefly, tied the game. The Rangers then scored two in their second, two more in the fourth and three in the fifth.

The loss dropped the Mariners to 72-77 with 13 games remaining. They also fell six games behind Houston for the American League’s final wild-card spot.