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 That was hardly the only power outage at the stadium.
The red-hot Mariners cooled off significantly on a night when Texas
rookie starter Miles Mikolas turned in the finest performance of his
young career. Mikolas scattered three hits over eight shutout
innings to beat the Mariners 2-0.
"It was great, especially knowing coming in that they were a hot
team," he said. "I was able to come in and pitch my game and start
the road trip out on the right note."
Mikolas (2-5) threw career-high eight innings to earn his first win
since July 21. He walked one and struck out five before closer
Neftali Feliz earned his seventh save of the season by pitching a
scoreless ninth.
The Mariners (71-59) were held to four hits while seeing their slim
AL wild-card lead over the idle Detroit Tigers narrow to a
half-game. Seattle scored 20 runs during the franchise's first-ever
three-game sweep in Boston over the weekend.
The Mariners were shut out for the first time since Aug. 3. The home
shutout loss was their first since July 24.
"I'm sure the world's probably caving in right now, but we'll be all
right tomorrow," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "If you look
at the numbers, you'd think we ought to dominate this team, but it
doesn't work out that way. You have to play the game. The Texas
Rangers played a better game than we did tonight."
Seattle had just one runner get past first base over the first 8 2/3
innings.
In the ninth, Mariners center fielder Austin Jackson hit a one-out
single and moved to second base on defensive indifference, but he
was left on base when left fielder Dustin Ackley flied out to right
field and second baseman Robinson Cano grounded out.
Designated hitter J.P. Arencibia put Texas ahead 1-0 with an RBI
single in the fourth, and second baseman Rougned Odor added a
seventh-inning RBI on a fielder's choice grounder for a 2-0 lead.
Texas (51-79) won back-to-back games for only the second time this
month. The Rangers haven't won three consecutive games since June
11-14, and they haven't won on three consecutive days since May
24-26.
Mikolas, who allowed 10 runs in a start two weeks earlier and
entered the game with a 7.48 ERA on the season, dominated the
Mariners for most of the night. He used a fastball and changeup to
get through the first four innings before introducing his slider in
the fifth.
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"He was very good," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Executed his
pitches, stayed focused."
Mikolas threw only 92 pitches and came within three outs of a
complete-game shutout, but he understood the decision to bring in Feliz
for the ninth.
"I could've also went out and given up a run right away," he said, "so I
think it was the right call. Hopefully I'll be starting for a long time
and there will be a lot of complete-game shutouts to come."
Seattle starter Roenis Elias (9-11) gave up a leadoff double but went on
to retire the next eight batters he faced. Texas finally got to him in
the fourth, when Arencibia gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with a one-out
single to left field.
Elias labored to get through five innings, throwing 101 pitches while
limiting the Rangers' lead to 1-0. Reliever Brandon Maurer replaced him
to start the sixth. Elias allowed one run on three hits, walking four
while striking out six.
"He was his own worst enemy tonight," McClendon said.
NOTES: The Rangers placed OF Shin-Soo Choo (bone spur in left elbow) on
the 15-day disabled list. Choo is scheduled to undergo season-ending
surgery. ... Texas purchased the contract of C Tomas Telis and recalled
OF Michael Choice from Triple-A Round Rock. Telis took the roster spot
that opened when C Geovany Soto was traded to Oakland a day earlier, and
he went 1-for-4 Monday in his major league debut. ... Seattle shuffled
its rotation to move RHP Felix Hernandez back from his scheduled
Wednesday start to a Friday night date with the Washington Nationals.
RHP Erasmo Ramirez, who was scheduled to start for Triple-A Tacoma on
Tuesday, appears to be the leading candidate to start Wednesday against
Texas. ... Seattle 2B Robinson Cano went 1-for-4 Monday, one day after
coming out of a game due to flu-like symptoms.
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