By Bob Dutton
The News Tribune
The last thing the Mariners needed Monday was for left-hander Ariel Miranda to take a big step backward. This was that and more.
Miranda failed to make it through the second inning in a 5-3 loss to the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas.
“He didn’t have much in the tank at all tonight,” manager Scott Servais said. “You could kind of see that early on. I was hoping to get a couple of innings out of him. It didn’t happen.
“He’s running on fumes right now. I think that’s what we’re seeing.”
The loss came at the start of a crucial seven-game trip and dealt another blow to the Mariners’ postseason aspirations. They fell to 71-73 and are now 31⁄2 games behind Minnesota in the race for the American League’s final wild-card berth.
They have 18 games remaining.
Club officials had hoped Miranda’s dominant performance in his previous outing against Houston — one hit in six innings — stemmed from correcting a delivery flaw. (The suspicion is he might have been tipping his pitches in recent weeks.)
It’s uncertain whether Miranda’s problems Monday reflected a relapse or just a bad night, but the Rangers clubbed him for four runs and six hits in 12⁄3 innings and got some good swings even when down in the count.
Worse, the two costliest hits — two-run doubles by Nomar Mazara and Shin-Soo Choo — were in left-on-left situations.
Six strong innings by Andrew Moore provided the Mariners with an opportunity to rally back, but they went silent over the final six innings after early homers by Kyle Seager and Mitch Haniger.
Texas starter Cole Hamels (10-3) pitched through the sixth inning before Matt Bush, Jake Diekman and Alex Claudio closed out the Rangers’ victory. The Mariners struck out 11 times and were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
“We struck out too much tonight,” Servais said. “You’ve got to put the ball in play. Nothing good happens when you strike out.”
Miranda (8-7) gave up two runs and three hits in the first inning. After a single and walk put runners at first and second with one out, Mazara drove a two-run double to deep center field for a 2-0 lead.
The Mariners answered with a leadoff homer from Seager to start the second inning. Mike Zunino’s one-out double provided an opportunity to pull even, but Hamels struck out Guillermo Heredia and Ben Gamel.
Miranda didn’t survive the second inning, when the Rangers extended their lead to 4-1 on Choo’s two-run double, but the Mariners again struck back with a homer against Hamels, a two-run drive by Haniger in the third inning.
The game’s final run came on Delino DeShields’ homer against Moore in the fourth inning. It was the only hit that Moore allowed.
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