The Rangers went into Seattle and put up 10 runs, and that’s about as clean a road night as a club can ask for.
Texas beat the Mariners 10-5, and while the final score looks comfortable, it had a little more edge to it in the middle innings than it should have. Cal Quantrill was the starter who got the win and, somehow, also picked up a Quality Start for the fifth outing in a row. All three runs against him came on one swing: a two-out, three-run homer from Lazaro Montes in the fourth.
That was no cheap shot, either. Quantrill left a 2-1 fastball over the plate, and Montes absolutely buried it.
The ball left the bat at 116.1 mph and traveled 474 feet, per Statcast, one of the longest blasts in the majors this year. Montes, a big DH the Mariners added to their active roster when rosters expanded, has the kind of minor league profile that fits the label he’s carried: walks, homers, and strikeouts.
He punched out his first time against Quantrill and struck out again in the ninth against Adam Macko.
Montes’ homer trimmed Texas’ lead to 4-3 and briefly gave Seattle something to feel good about. Then the Rangers answered with a fifth inning that flipped the whole game back in their favor.
Texas scored five in the top of the fifth, including a Wyatt Langford homer and a two-out, three-run Danny Jansen blast that wiped away whatever momentum Seattle had just built. That inning took the air out of the Mariners’ dugout, and they didn’t do much offensively over the next three frames.
The Rangers had already opened things up early against Bryce Miller. Corey Seager started the scoring with a homer in the first, and Nicky Lopez followed in the second with an opposite-field bloop single that brought in Wyatt Langford. Lopez was making his first start since August 19, and he made it count, reaching base in all four plate appearances and going 3 for 3 with a hit by pitch before being lifted for Cody Freeman.
Miller was done in the top of the fourth with Texas up 2-0, the bases loaded, two outs, and Joc Pederson due up. Left-hander Jose Ferrer came out of the bullpen, and Skip Schumaker countered by sending Justin Foscue up to hit for Pederson.
It was the kind of move that invites second-guessing if it fails, but Foscue delivered with a two-run single that pushed the Rangers’ lead to 4-0. That mattered, because it meant Montes’ homer only cut the margin to one instead of changing the game completely.
Seattle’s best push after that came late. Adam Macko gave up a run in the eighth and another in the ninth, and the Mariners loaded the bases with one out after a pair of singles and a Cody Freeman error. Macko had already struck out Montes, and after he got Randy Arozarena on a sacrifice fly for the second out, he finished it by striking out Dominic Canzone.
Between Quantrill and Macko, Robert Garcia made his return and needed just eight pitches to retire the side in the seventh. He struck out pinch hitter Michael Arroyo on three pitches to close out the frame.
The result left Texas still chasing in the Wild Card race, but not losing ground. The Guardians and Astros also won on the road, so the Rangers remain a game and a half behind Cleveland and two games behind Houston.
The batted-ball numbers backed up the power show. Wyatt Langford’s homer came off the bat at 107.3 mph, Corey Seager’s at 106.9 mph, and Evan Carter had a 104.2 mph single plus a 100.9 mph groundout.
Quantrill’s fastball hit 95.3 mph and averaged 94.1, while his sinker reached 96.2 and averaged 94.3. Robert Garcia topped out at 94.6 mph with his fastball, and Adam Macko got his fastball up to 95.7 mph.
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Julio Rodrguez delivered the biggest swing of the night, turning the game around in the seventh and sending the Mariners to a 4-3 win that nudged them to 69-78. The result kept their postseason hopes hanging around, even if they still sit six games back in the division race and still have plenty of ground to make up. [Read more 🡒]