Minor 11 Ks, Rangers 5 homers in 10-9 win over Mariners
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Asdrúbal Cabrera hit two of the five Texas homers, Mike Minor struck out 11 over six innings and the Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 10-9 in a series opener Monday night.
Hunter Pence, Joey Gallo and Rougned Odor also went deep. The Rangers twice had back-to-back homers while winning for the fifth time in six games since losing five in a row.
Minor (5-3) had pitched 29 innings in a row at home without giving up a run before Seattle, down 7-0 at the time, scored twice in the sixth. That scoreless streak for the lefty was the longest by any pitcher ever at the Rangers' ballpark that is in its 26th and final season.
Tim Beckham had five RBIs for the Mariners, including his first career grand slam in the eighth to chase Shelby Miller, who was making his first relief appearance since losing his spot in the starting rotation. Seattle added three runs in the ninth, including Daniel Vogelbach's two-run homer with two outs.
Texas went ahead to stay with a five-run first inning off Mike Leake (3-5), when Odor hit a three-run homer before Cabrera followed with a solo shot that snapped an 0-for-13 slide. Cabrera led off the fourth with his second homer of the game, and ninth of the season - all at home.
Pence's ninth homer was a two-run homer in the seventh, measured at about 449 feet deep into the Mariners bullpen in left-center. Gallo followed with his 14th homer, an opposite-field shot that just cleared the wall into that bullpen and made it 10-2.
It was Minor's second game this season with at least 10 strikeouts. The other was his career-high 13 at Seattle in a 15-1 win on April 27, which started the current stretch of 16 losses in 21 games for the Mariners.
Minor allowed six runs in 4 2/3 innings in the season opener for the Rangers, but didn't allow a run over 24 innings in his next three home starts until Monday night. He surpassed C.J. Wilson's record of 25 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings (2009-10) at the Texas home ballpark with his first two innings against Seattle.
Ryon Healy's sacrifice fly plated the first Seattle run and Beckham had a two-out RBI single before Minor struck out the last batter he faced.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rangers: SS Danny Santana, who left Saturday's game after being hit on his right ankle bone by a 96 mph fastball, stepped out of the box for an extended time in the fourth after fouling a ball off his right foot. He shook it off and stayed in the game. He played Sunday, hitting a pinch-hit homer and later scoring the winning run in extra innings.
UP NEXT
Mariners: Veteran left-hander Tommy Milone is set to make his first start of the season for Seattle. After seven seasons with five teams, he signed a minor league deal with the Mariners in December and went 4-2 with a 3.83 ERA in nine games (eight starts) at Triple-A Tacoma.
Rangers: RHP Lance Lynn (5-3, 4.94) makes his 10th start of the season. He is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in two career starts against the Mariners, including April 28 when he allowed one run and five hits over seven innings at Seattle.
