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 And that was OK.
Instead of the lumber Beltre has been throwing around lately, his
eye proved the difference in the Texas Rangers' 4-3 victory over the
Seattle Mariners on Monday night.
Beltre went 3-for-4 with three RBIs but watched five pitches in
drawing a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning to give Texas its
fifth consecutive win.
The Rangers (60-57) have also won their last eight games at home and
are three games above .500 for the first time since June 23.
"We're playing with more confidence," said Beltre, batting .478
(11-of-23) during his current six-game hitting streak. "Our team is
better in situational hitting, pitching has been great and hopefully
we can keep it up."
The Mariners (55-64) have dropped three of four on their current
six-game trip and lost to the Rangers for only the third time in 10
meetings this season.
Texas and Seattle play the middle game of a three-game set on
Tuesday night.
The Rangers opened the ninth with back-to-back bunt singles from
left fielder Ryan Strausborger and center fielder Delino DeShields
against former Seattle closer Fernando Rodney. DeShields' hit was
reviewed and upheld after a long delay.
"I knew how fast he was," Seattle third baseman Kyle Seager said.
"He bunted it, not too firm, but right at me. I came up and took a
peek at second just to see if there was a play there, and when I
threw it to first, he beat it."
Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo was hit on the ensuing pitch after the
stoppage to load the bases with none out for designated hitter
Prince Fielder. Rodney struck out Fielder, but his luck ended there
with a five-pitch walk of Beltre.
"He hit a guy, almost hit another and he walked the winning run in,"
Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "It's command."
The Mariners are tied with Cincinnati for the major league lead with
nine walkoff losses.
Neither starter -- Texas' Cole Hamels or Seattle's Taijuan Walker --
was involved in the decision. Hamels worked seven innings and
allowed three runs and seven hits while matching a season high with
four walks. Walker gave up three runs and 10 hits in six innings.
Hamels, back after missing his previous turn in the rotation with a
groin injury, has yet to win a game since being traded to Texas. He
has two no-decisions and a loss.
"Being able to go out there and pitch and make quality pitches is
something I haven't been able to do here for the past couple of
weeks," Hamels said. "That's something that I definitely have to
work on."
Texas closer Shawn Tolleson (5-2) picked up the win after working a
scoreless top of the ninth.
Seattle was poised to take its first lead in the seventh if not for
a spectacular defensive effort by Choo. After the Mariners tied the
score 3-3 on shortstop Ketel Marte's single to right, the visitors
had runners at the corners with one out.
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Seager lined a shot to right that Choo ran down before firing a
strike to the plate to gun down first baseman Logan Morrison and
keep the score tied.
"I just tried to throw it hard and I caught him," Choo said.
The Rangers broke a 2-2 tied on Strausborger's sacrifice fly in the
sixth.
As has been their custom lately, the Rangers' offense got started
early. Beltre's double to left drove home Choo, who walked against
Walker.
The Rangers have scored in the first inning in four consecutive
games.
Another double by Beltre, this one down the third-base line, plated
Choo again in the third for a 2-0 lead.
The Mariners took advantage of two leadoff walks in the fourth by
Hamels to cut the lead to 2-1. Left fielder Franklin Gutierrez
doubled to score Seager, leaving runners at second and third with
one out.
Hamels, though, ended the threat there to keep the Rangers up by a
run.
The Texas left-hander found himself in trouble again in the fifth.
Seattle put the first two batters on with two singles before
Seager's one-out single knotted the score.
Seattle right fielder Nelson Cruz (1-3) has reached base in 28
consecutive games, the longest streak in the American League this
season.
NOTES: Texas LHP Derek Holland is set to start Wednesday after being
out almost the entire season with a shoulder injury. He pitched one
inning in the home opener before getting hurt. ... Texas OF Josh
Hamilton (knee) was out of the starting lineup for the second
consecutive game. ... Mariners RHP Hisashi Iwakuma was named
American League Player of the Week after throwing no-hitter on Aug.
12 against Baltimore. ... Texas LHP Cole Hamels returned to the
rotation after missing his start on Aug. 13 because of a groin
issue. ... Seattle recalled LHP Edgar Olmos from Triple-A Tacoma and
optioned LHP Rob Rasmussen back to Tacoma. ... Texas announced that
Masters and U.S. Open winner Jordan Spieth is throwing out the first
pitch before Tuesday's game.
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