Rangers jump on Mariners early, Yu Darvish solid again

The Rangers opened a crucial 10-game stretch with a 6-3 win against the Mariners Monday night at Globe Life Park. Yu Darvish outpitched Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma to earn the win. It’s the fifth consecutive Darvish start the Rangers have won. Texas now has a  9 1/2 game lead on the Mariners, who dropped to third place. The Astros won Monday night and remain 8 1/2 games back.

Pitching: Yu Darvish allowed three runs on six hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings. He left with two on and two outs in the seventh. Jake Diekman replaced him and surrendered a two-run double down the left-field line to pinch-hitter Franklin Gutierrez, which pulled Seattle to within 6-3. Diekman walked Robinson Cano before Keone Kela came on to face Nelson Cruz. Kela struck out Cruz and retired the side in the eighth. Sam Dyson pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 30th save.

Hitting: Carlos Beltran’s solo homer in the first gave Texas a 1-0 lead. The Rangers scored four times in the third after the first four hitters reached on a single, triple and consecutive doubles. Ian Desmond and Carlos Beltran drove in runs with doubles and Jonathan Lucroy’s two-out single made it 5-0 against Mariners’ starter Hisashi Iwakuma. Adrian Beltre doubled with one out in the fifth, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Rougned Odor’s sacrifice fly to center to make it 6-1.

Notable: Beltre’s fifth-inning double gave him 584 in his career to snap a tie with Hall of Famer Robin Yount. He’s now 20th all-time ... Beltre needs two more doubles to pass Rafael Palmeiro for 19th place all-time and eight to tie Todd Helton for 18th place ... Andrus has at least 20 stolen bases in his first eight season.

This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Rangers jump on Mariners early, Yu Darvish solid again."