Rangers recap: Mariners stymie Texas bats to take opener but Astros also lose

Manager Jeff Banister was ejected in the second inning as the Seattle Mariners scored three runs in the inning to win the series opener 3-1 against the Rangers Friday night at Globe Life Park. The Rangers remained  2 1/2 games ahead of the Houston Astros atop the American League West. Houston lost 4-3 to Oakland Friday night.

Pitching: The Mariners put together a three-run second inning with two outs. A walk and a double set up Ketel Marte’s two-run double over the third-base bag. Kyle Seager followed with a run-scoring bloop single in shallow left to put Rangers’ starter Yovani Gallardo in a 3-0 hole.

Gallardo left trailing 3-1 after a leadoff single the fifth inning. He allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks. Andrew Faukner came in and induced a double play and groundout to end the inning. Faulkner pitched two scoreless innings before Tanner Scheppers took over in the eighth. Scheppers lasted only two pitchers after a leadoff single by Nelson Cruz, which Delino DeShields initially caught on a slide before failing to keep control of the ball. Jake Diekman replaced Scheppers with Nelson on first. Diekman quickly forced a 4-6-3 double play and groundout.

Hitting: Texas loaded the bases in the fifth but came away with just one run on a bases-loaded walk by Prince Fielder. Mike Napoli hit into an inning-ending double play to end the inning. Texas left 13 runners in the first six innings. The Rangers had the bases loaded with one out in the first against Mariner’s left-hander James Paxton but Mitch Moreland struck out to end the inning. Paxton struck out Delino DeShields and Fielder earlier in the inning. In the third, Shin-Soo Choo, who had three hits Friday, singled to with one out, followed by an Adrian Beltre walk. But Fielder struck out again and Napoli popped out to right. A one-out single in the fourth by Elvis Andrus was erased on Rougned Odor’s double play to short. In the eighth, Beltre walked and Fielder reached on an error at first with two outs. On a passed ball that only got away a few feet from Mariner’s catcher Jesus Sucre, Beltre tried to move to third. He was ruled safe on the field, but after a replay review it was ruled he was tagged out when he came off the bag. Will Venable, who replaced Napoli in the lineuo as a defensive replacement, struck out. Moreland was hit by a pitch before Andrus grounded out to the pitcher. In the ninth, Odor and Josh Hamilton struck out and DeShields flew out to end the game.

Notable: Banister was ejected for the fifth time this season ... Choo has 10 hits in his past 13 at-bats ... Hamilton’s at-bat in the ninth was his first since Sept. 4 at the Angels.

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 10:26 PM with the headline "Rangers recap: Mariners stymie Texas bats to take opener but Astros also lose."