ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rowdy Tellez hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 on Saturday night for their sixth consecutive victory.
Jorge Polanco led off the ninth with a pinch-hit double off Chris Martin (0-4). Polanco advanced to third on Ben Williamson’s grounder before scoring on Tellez’s pinch-hit liner into center.
Andrés Muñoz — the AL reliever of the month for April — got three outs for his 12th save. The right-hander has not allowed a run in 16 consecutive appearances to begin the season, tying the franchise record.
Muñoz struck out Adolis García with Marcus Semien on second for the final out.
Texas has lost four straight and seven of eight overall.
JP Crawford homered for Seattle on Patrick Corbin’s first pitch of the game. Crawford extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
Texas star Corey Seager was activated from the injured list and went 1 for 4 with a strikeout while serving as the designated hitter.
Seager hit a leadoff single in the fourth against Luis Castillo. He scampered home on Jonah Heim’s two-out single, tying it at 1.
Castillo allowed four hits in six innings. Gabe Speier (1-0) pitched the eighth for the win.
Corbin permitted five hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Seattle improved to 5-0 against Texas this season, outscoring the Rangers 32-8.
Key moment
Seattle reliever Matt Brash, who missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, made his first appearance. He gave up a single to Heim before striking out García and getting Josh Jung to hit into a double play.
Key stat
The Mariners have won eight series in a row — tying a club record set in 2022 — and posted an MLB-best 16-4 record since April 9.
Up next
Mariners right-hander Logan Evans (1-0, 3.60 ERA) makes his second career start in Sunday’s series finale. Right-hander Jacob deGrom (1-1, 2.73 ERA) takes the mound for the Rangers.
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