Out of Right Field: Recap, takeaways from the Mariners’ 5-3 loss to the Texas Rangers

The Mariners never had trouble with Lance Lynn before this season.

Now they can’t seem to solve him.

Lynn struck out a season-high 11 in seven strong innings as the Texas Rangers defeated the visiting Mariners 5-3 Tuesday night.

Joey Gallo hit a two-run homer and Nomar Mazara went 3 for 4 with two doubles for the Rangers, who won their second straight game in the series and third in a row overall.

Omar Narvaez hit a solo homer with two outs in the ninth for the M’s.

Lynn (6-3) allowed two runs on five hits to defeat Seattle for the second time this season. He was 0-4 against the Mariners before beating them 14-1 on April 28 in Seattle, when he allowed one run on five hits in seven innings.

Lynn cruised through the first six innings, holding the Mariners scoreless on just three hits.

He ran into some trouble in the seventh, as Seattle scored twice to pull within 3-2.

Daniel Vogelbach led off with a walk, the only one Lynn issued, and Edwin Encarnacion lined a single to left. Narvaez then hit a ball off the top of the wall in right field, scoring Vogelbach and sending Encarnacion to third. Narvaez’s blast was so close to being a tying home run that Mariners manager Scott Servais waited for a replay before determining not to request a video review.

Encarnacion scored on a sacrifice fly by Jay Bruce before Lynn rebounded to strike out Tim Beckham and J.P. Crawford to end the inning.

Left-hander Tommy Milone (0-1), making his Mariners debut, allowed two runs on three hits in five-plus innings. He walked one and struck out six.

After Seattle rallied, Gallo went deep in the eighth off left-hander Roenis Elias. It was Gallo’s 15th home run of the season.

Of note

The M’s made several roster moves, most notably putting 2B Dee Gordon (right wrist contusion) and 3B Ryon Healy (lower back inflammation) on the 10-day injured list. To replace those two, IF Shed Long was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma and IF Dylan Moore was reinstated from the 10-day IL after a rehabilitation assignment with the Rainiers. RHP Parker Markel was optioned to Tacoma and RHP Ryan Garton was designated for assignment. The M’s also signed RHP Anthony Bass, who was released a day earlier by the Cincinnati Reds, to a major league contract. Bass, 31, who has pitched in 147 games in parts of seven major league seasons, was the closer at Triple-A Louisville

By the numbers

1: Career hits for Shed Long, after he grounded a single into right field with one out in the sixth inning. Long had been 0-for-10 before that at-bat.

Our take from Right Field

It might have escaped notice, but the M’s – who started the season 13-2 and had a four-game lead in the American League West – are now in last place in the division. The bullpen carousel keeps running, as GM Jerry Dipoto made moves for the second consecutive day.

Up next

The M’s wrap up their three-game series at Texas with an 11:05 a.m. game Wednesday. LHP Marco Gonzales (5-3, 3.65 ERA) is set to face the Rangers, who had yet to officially announce their starter for the day game.