The Seattle Mariners centerfielder burned the Rangers again with four hits, including a home run to lead his club to an 8-4 win on Saturday at Globe Life Field.
Dane Dunning, inserted as the Rangers’ starting pitcher with Max Scherzer going on the injured list, surrendered the home run to Rodriguez on the first pitch of the game, as part of a two-run first inning for Seattle. Dunning was charged with two runs on seven hits and a walk and struck out five in 3 2/3 innings.
After Josh Smith’s two-run homer in the third tied it at 2-2, Seattle scored three times in the sixth to take a 5-2 lead. Texas rallied with two runs in the bottom of the inning to pull to within 5-4, but the Mariners pulled away with three runs in the ninth against Walter Pennington, who allowed a double, a triple and a hit a batter left with two outs and two on before Rodriguez’s two-run single against Gerson Garabito made it 8-4.
Three thoughts from Saturday’s game:
1. With The Loss …
The defending World Series champion Rangers will finish with an under .500 record in 2024. With Saturday’s loss, Texas dropped to 73-82. With seven games remaining, the best the Rangers could finish is 80-82. Texas plays its home finale against Seattle on Sunday before finishing with three at Oakland and three at Anaheim.
