ARLINGTON, Texas _ On a sweltering, ruin-your-shirt night featuring the heat of August in Texas, neither the Mariners or Rangers _ two teams playing out the string _ wanted to play into extra innings. Besides the heat, Seattle's bullpen was torched from the three-game series with the Yankees and the Rangers didn't arrive back from their road trip until 5 a.m. Thursday morning.
Nine would be just fine.
And it was the Mariners that had the deft execution in the ninth inning, manufacturing the go-ahead run and adding an insurance run for an eventual 5-3 victory over Texas.
After dropping three in a row to the Yankees at home, the Mariners started the 12-game road trip with a win over a Rangers' team that is in a similar rebuild mode this season.
In a season about opportunity and development, part of that growth is learning how to execute when asked in specific situations _ like manufacturing a run instead of waiting for home run that may never come.
"You have to understand game situations and execute them," manager Scott Servais said. "It's what you've got to do."
Tied at 3-3 in the top of the ninth, Dee Gordon led off with a single and stole second base, Mallex Smith worked a walk and J.P. Crawford executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position.
Austin Nola drove in the go-ahead run with a deep sacrifice fly to center. Omar Narvaez added a two-out bloop single to left to score Smith to provide an extra run of support.
The ninth-inning execution allowed right-hander Matt Magill, who worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning, to pitch a scoreless ninth to pick up the win.
Felix Hernandez gave the Mariners a serviceable start in the energy-sapping heat. He worked five innings, allowing three runs on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
Texas grabbed a quick 1-0 lead off Hernandez in the first inning. Willie Calhoun crushed a 3-2 fastball that was left belt high and right over the middle of the plate, sending a rocket off the facing of the upper deck in right field.
Texas' lead was short-lived. The Mariners loaded the bases against Texas starter Lance Lynn. Dylan Moore wore a pitch off his elbow to force the tying run across the plate. Lynn and the Rangers should have got out of the inning allowing just the one run after Dee Gordon hit a groundball to shortstop that seemed destined to be an easy double play. However, first baseman Logan Forsythe dropped the throw from shortstop Danny Santana. It allowed Daniel Vogelbach to score. Jake Fraley made a solid read, taking home as the ball squirted away from Forsythe. Seattle had scored three runs without a hit with runners in scoring position.
The Mariners didn't do much else against Lynn, who worked the next four inning scoreless while allowing just three more base runners.
Texas answered with a run in the bottom of the inning. Again with two outs, Hernandez allowed back-to-back doubles to Scott Heinemen and Isiah Kiner-Falefa that made it 3-2.
With his third inning strikeout of Danny Santana, Hernandez pushed his career total to 2,506 strikeouts, passing Christy Mathewson and moving into 37th on the all-time list. Only six other active pitchers have recorded more than 2,500 strikeouts _ CC Sabathia (3,080), Justin Verlander (2,949), Max Scherzer (2,649), Zach Greinke (2,585) and Cole Hamels (2,530).
The Rangers tied the game in the fourth inning, loading the bases with no outs. The Mariners came within a step of an inning-ending triple play on Heinemen's hard ground ball to third. Seager stepped on the base, fired to Dee Gordon at second for out No. 2, but his relay throw to first was just a little too late. It allowed the run to score and tie the game at 3-3.
