Mariners win 13th in row, top Texas 3-2 in 10 innings
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JULY 16: Nathaniel Lowe #30 of the Texas Rangers tries to pickoff Cal Raleigh #29 of the Seattle Mariners in the sixth inning at Globe Life Field on July 16, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - J.P. Crawford hit an RBI single in the 10th inning and the Seattle Mariners stretched their winning streak to 13 games, beating the Texas Rangers 3-2 on Saturday.
Carlos Santana homered as the Mariners (50-42) moved closer to the club-record 15-game winning streak set in their last playoff season in 2001. They have won 21 of their last 24 games overall to take eight series in a row, their most since winning 14 straight sets during that 116-win season 21 years ago.
Seattle would match the longest winning streak in the majors this year with a victory in the series finale Sunday, its final game before the All-Star break. Reigning World Series champion Atlanta won 14 games in a row last month.
Crawford chopped a one-out single down the line past first base off Brett Martin (0-5), who was the fifth Texas pitcher and went the last two innings. That scored automatic runner Sam Haggerty, who came on as a pinch-runner for Santana, who had an inning-ending groundout in the ninth.
Diego Castillo (7-1) faced only three batters in the ninth, benefitting from a double-play liner after walking the leadoff batter. Matthew Festa struck out the side in the 10th for his first save.
Crawford and Santana both returned to the Mariners lineup. Crawford had missed two games because of a bruised right index finger, and Santana was reinstated from the restricted list after being away from the club for a day after a fire at his home in Florida.
Ty France, who had three more hits to raise his batting average to .306, singled in the third before Santana hit his eighth homer of the season to put the Mariners up 2-1. France had a one-out double in the ninth, but his pinch-runner got stranded on base.
Nathaniel Lowe, mired in a 4-for-26 slide, led off the Texas second with a double and scored on a single by Jonah Heim. The Rangers tied the game in the seventh after another leadoff double, this one by hot-hitting Leody Taveras before Elier Hernandez singled to get his first career RBI. Taveras has hit .593 (16 of 27) with six doubles in a seven-game hitting streak.
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SHORT HOPS
It was Seattle's seventh one-run win during its current streak. The Mariners' 21 one-run wins overall are tied with Toronto for the most in the majors. The Rangers are tied for the major league lead with 20 one-run losses. ... All-Star SS Corey Seager had his first triple with the Rangers, but saw the end of his career-best RBI streak at eight games. ... There were no injuries in the fire at Santana's home. His family was at another home in Kansas City at the time.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rangers: RHP Johnathan Hernandez was activated from the 60-day injured list and pitched a scoreless seventh with one strikeout. He missed all of 2021 recovering from Tommy John surgery. RHP A.J. Alexy was sent to Triple-A Round Rock.
UP NEXT
RHP Chris Flexen (6-8, 3.84 ERA), who is 4-0 with a 2.53 ERA in five career starts against Texas, takes the mound for the Mariners in the final game before the All-Star break. Rangers rookie RHP Glenn Otto (4-5, 5.50) has given up no more than two runs in eight of his 12 starts overall, but has allowed 10 earned runs his last two home starts.