Rangers Split Two With Mariners

Magic number falls to six after a couple of gems by two of the best pitchers in the American League. Felix Hernandez led Seattle to a victory Friday night, while Cliff Lee (above) continued to reassert himself as one of the best pitchers in the game with an eight-inning gem Saturday night. (AP Photo/Kevin P. Casey)

After scoring 22 runs in the two game set against the Detroit Tigers earlier in the week, the Texas Rangers (83-64) have found runs a little harder to come by against the Seattle Mariners (56-92).


Felix Hernandez (W, 12-11) had a no-hitter going until the eighth inning in the first game of the series before Nelson Cruz smashed a solo-homer over the wall in center to lead off the eighth. King Felix would allow two more hits in the inning, and finished having allowed only one run on three hits while striking out eight batters.

"The King was great tonight," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "I don't know if he has thrown a game that good before this year, but he certainly threw it against us tonight."

The Rangers offense came to life in the second game of the series, lighting up Mariners' starter Jason Vargas to the tune of five runs on nine hits in six innings pitched. Every Rangers' starter aside from Elvis Andrus had a hit in the game, and six runs were more than enough for the rejuvenated Cliff Lee on the mound. Lee (W, 12-8) gave Texas eight innings, allowing one run on six hits while striking out eight against his former team.

"I want to pitch well every game," Lee said. "But when it's against a team you played for there's a little extra incentive."

The magic number for the Rangers to make the playoffs is now at six after the Oakland A's lost to the Twins 4-2 Saturday. It's only a matter of time before Texas clinches, which should be in the next week.

The final game of the three game set between these two teams is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 3:10 p.m. Tommy Hunter (12-3, 3.97 ERA) will get the start for Texas, while Doug Fister (5-12, 3.95) will take the mound for Seattle.

News and Notes:

• Former Ranger Justin Smoak was called up from Triple-A before the game and went 1 for 3 with a single.
• Over the past two weeks, the Rangers have climbed back to first in the Majors in both batting average (.277) and hits (1411).
• Texas is now 11-4 this season against Seattle.
  

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)