Julio Rodríguez hit two home runs and drove in five runs, while George Kirby pitched six innings for his 13th win as the Mariners, who are chasing a wild card spot, defeated the Texas Rangers 8-2 on Friday night.
Rodríguez gave the Mariners (79-75) the lead for good with a three-run homer in the fifth inning off Jack Leiter, who came in to pitch after Jacob deGrom made his first home start in nearly 17 months following elbow surgery.
Seattle is two games behind Minnesota for the third and final wild card spot after the Twins beat Boston 4-2 in 12 innings. The Mariners are also five games behind Houston in the AL West, with eight games left to play, including three against Houston.
“We’re still in it. Everyone’s confident. Just got to keep playing good baseball,” Kirby said.
“It feels great. Obviously we have a shot to get into the playoffs,” Rodríguez said. “But I feel like everybody knows that and understands that at the same time we’ve got to take it one day at a time. … We’ve got to focus on that right now.”
Rodríguez matched his career high for RBIs with his first multi-homer game of the season. His first homer put Seattle ahead 4-2, and he hit another two-run shot in the seventh inning, going to right field for his 18th homer of the year.
Kirby (13-11) defeated the reigning World Series champions again, just five days after facing only 21 batters over seven scoreless innings against them.
The 26-year-old right-hander is now 7-0 with a 1.15 ERA in nine career starts against Texas. He struck out four batters and did not walk any while allowing two runs on five hits.
“George jumped picked up right where he left off against Texas back at home,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said.
Nathaniel Lowe had a two-run single for the Rangers (73-81), who have already been eliminated from the AL West race and are close to being officially out of wild-card contention, which means they will have a losing record.
Lowe’s hit ended George Kirby’s streak of 34 consecutive scoreless innings against Texas over seven starts since September 28, 2022.
Jacob deGrom struck out five batters in three innings, and the only run he allowed came when No. 9 batter Josh Rojas hit a home run to start the third inning. Rojas also contributed with a sacrifice fly later in the game.
Jack Leiter (0-3) gave up seven runs (six earned) in five innings. He struck out five and walked two, throwing 57 of his 92 pitches for strikes.
A week after throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings in his season debut against the Mariners, deGrom threw 37 of his 58 pitches for strikes and had one walk. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy mentioned that the 36-year-old right-hander would aim for around 60 pitches.
“Definitely felt better than my first one. I think maybe a little bit less nerves, worked on some things in between,” said deGrom, who will have one more start this season.
“It’s little things that I’ve got to continue to work on, but my arm felt good and that was the most important thing.”
This was deGrom’s first home start since he left in the middle of the fourth inning against the New York Yankees on April 28, 2023. That was the sixth and final start in the first season of his $185 million, five-year contract.
