Julio Rodriguez, Mariners have wild card in focus in matchup vs. Rangers

The Texas Rangers will play their final home game of the season on Sunday afternoon. The good news is it’s also the last time manager Bruce Bochy’s defending World Series champions will face Julio Rodriguez and the Seattle Mariners.

Seattle improved to 10-2 this season against Texas with an 8-4 victory on Saturday to clinch its fifth straight series victory against the Rangers while closing to within 1 1/2 games of the rained-out Minnesota Twins for the third and final American League wild-card spot.

Rodriguez continued to torment Texas pitching, going 4-for-6 — including a home run on the first pitch of the game — and finishing with four RBIs. He is 7-for-11 with three homers, nine RBIs and four runs in the first two games of the series.

“He’s gotten a lot of good pitches to hit, and he’s not missing them,” Bochy said. “He’s a good hitter. Got to make good pitches and execute, and we haven’t done a good job of that.”

“He’s just swinging the bat really well, and when he comes up there, anything can happen at this point,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said.

In 12 games against the Rangers (73-82) this season, Rodriguez is batting .400 with seven home runs, 19 RBIs and a 1.286 OPS.

“He’s just proven time and time again that he’s hitting the ball hard,” Wilson said. “He’s hitting the ball on a line. He’s able to leave at any part of the ballpark. Going to right field to start the game was a big lift. Being able to get those two runs (with a ninth-inning single) was huge as well.”

Seattle (80-75) improved to 54-4 when scoring five runs or more in a game. The Mariners also tied their season high with 16 hits.

“It was a good effort tonight,” said catcher Cal Raleigh, one of five Mariners to have a multi-hit game. “I thought we played a really good game all around and now need to come out tomorrow and finish it up.”

Right-hander Bryan Woo (8-3, 2.85 ERA), coming off his worst start of the season on Tuesday when he allowed seven runs on nine hits over 4 2/3 innings in an 11-2 loss to the New York Yankees, will start for Seattle. He will oppose left-hander Andrew Heaney (5-14, 3.89).

Woo is 0-2 with a 12.00 ERA in three career starts against Texas, all of them in the 2023 season. He has allowed four home runs in nine career innings against the Rangers.

Heaney took the loss in a 7-0 setback to the Mariners last Sunday in Seattle, allowing three runs, including a two-run homer to Mitch Garver, on seven hits over five innings. He is 4-10 with a 4.40 ERA in 23 career appearances (21 starts) against Seattle.

With just seven games remaining, including a three-game series at AL West leader Houston starting on Monday, the Mariners know there’s no room for error if they hope to make the playoffs. They also have three games at home against the Oakland Athletics.

“We know every single game is important,” Raleigh said. “We can’t take anything for granted. … We know we can’t control any other stuff. We’ve just got to keep our head down and keep going one game at a time.”

–Field Level Media