Beltre drives in five as Rangers take opener from Mariners

ARLINGTON, Texas – It’s getting harder to dismiss the nightly meltdowns in the Mariners’ rotation as a cyclical hiccup that inevitably occurs over the span of a six-month season.

Concern is spiking into the red zone – or should be – at the ongoing implosion of Taijuan Walker, the long-viewed heir apparent to Felix Hernandez at the head of the rotation.

Walker is winless in his last seven starts after wobbling through five innings Friday night in a 7-3 loss to Texas at Globe Life Park. He put the Mariners in a quick three-run hole and, this time, there was no comeback.

“It’s just being intense,” Walker said, “and going out there and going right after them with conviction. I haven’t really done that in the last couple of starts. I’ve really got to get out there and get after it from pitch one.”

Maybe the Mariners were spent after overcoming a 10-run deficit Thursday night in a 16-13 victory at San Diego and arriving around 5 a.m. at their Metroplex.

More likely, they are beginning to fray at the need to bolster a struggling rotation that has allowed 60 runs in 67 innings over the last 12 games. Somehow, the Mariners are 6-6 in that span.

“All you can do is support them,” second baseman Robinson Cano said. “You’ve got to stay with them. We all go through that. There were times when we just scored one or two runs.

“We’ve just got to stay together as a team, keep competing and fighting.”

Walker’s struggles top the rotation’s problem list. He is 0-6 with a 5.77 ERA in his last seven starts after giving up six runs and nine hits in five innings. This collapse follows a 1.44 ERA in his five April starts.

“He’s in developmental mode right now,” manager Scott Servais said, “and it’s hard to do at the big-league level. He’s just having a hard time finding a secondary pitch that’s going to work for him.

“Tonight he got hurt on a couple again. A slider, a change-up. It continues to happen over and over.

“A very talented guy. We certainly think he has a very high ceiling, but right now he’s in a little bit of a rut.”

Walker (2-6) put the Mariners in a three-run hole in the first inning just as Wade Miley and James Paxton did in the preceding two games in San Diego.

Ian Desmond flicked one-out single to right and stole second. After Walker walked Nomar Mazara, he yielded a three-run homer to Adrian Beltre – a 384-foot drive to left.

The early lead made it easy for Texas right-hander Yu Darvish, who gave up three runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings in his second start since returning from reconstructive-elbow surgery.

The Rangers’ bullpen took it from there.

The victory gave Texas a one-game lead over the Mariners in the American League West. The clubs play five more times over the next nine days.

“I’ve just got to figure it out,” Walker said. “Once everything starts clicking again, it’ll be fine.”