Odor's Solo HR In 11th Lifts Rangers Past Mariners
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SEATTLE (AP) - Rougned Odor gave the Texas Rangers something besides Yu Darvish's skipped start to talk about Saturday night.
Odor hit a solo homer off reliever Mike Montgomery in the 11th inning to lift the Texas Rangers over the Seattle Mariners 2-1.
Prince Fielder tied the game with a two-out homer in the top of the ninth, forcing extra innings and setting up Odor's winner.
Rangers manager Jeff Banister was eager to discuss the rally rather than the status of Darvish, who will skip his scheduled start Monday at Oakland after experiencing neck and shoulder tightness.
"There was so much good that went on in that ball game. I think that's where we need to go," Banister said. "How about Rougned Odor with a game-winning home run? "
Banister also deflected attention toward Fielder, who even after Saturday is batting .204 with just five homers this season.
"He's been written about, talked about, written off," Banister said. "This guy comes up huge. Things that everybody's been looking for."
Sam Dyson pitched the 11th for his ninth save. Matt Bush (2-0) picked up the victory in relief.
It was a welcome celebration for a team concerned about one of its best pitchers. Darvish left his previous start against Houston after five innings and 76 pitches with shoulder tightness. He threw a bullpen Friday and felt fine, but another throwing session on Saturday was cut short.
That start against the Astros was Darvish's third since returning from Tommy John surgery. A replacement has yet to be determined for Monday, but Banister's focus was on the way Texas rallied for the victory. He was a bit perturbed to get questions about Darvish.
"What we need to talk about is this ball game, and what these guys did tonight was exceptional," Banister said.
Rangers starter Colby Lewis allowed just three hits over eight innings with no walks and three strikeouts. Outside of Adam Lind's solo home run, only Steve Clevenger reached scoring position for Seattle, on a one-out double in the third inning. Clevenger was stranded at third after groundouts from Ketel Marte and Aoki.
"Only three over the minimum. Another tremendous veteran outing by Colby," Banister said. "The only hiccup was a changeup to Lind after the breaking ball, left it up and Lind got some air underneath it and hit it out of the ballpark. Other than that he shut them down, kept these guys frustrated."
James Paxton had his best outing of the season for Seattle since being called up to replace an injured Felix Hernandez. The left-hander threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowed just two walks and six hits and struck out six in shutting down the Rangers' lineup.
TRADE FINALIZED
The Mariners sent RHP Justin De Fratus to the Texas Rangers as the player to be named later in a trade from May 29 for 3B/OF Patrick Kivlehan. De Fratus, 28, was signed by Seattle on Dec. 2, 2015. With Triple-A Tacoma, De Fratus was 2-2 with a 3.21 ERA in 19 relief appearances.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rangers: 3B Adrian Beltre took early batting practice on Saturday but is still available only on an emergency basis. Beltre suffered a strained hamstring Wednesday. ... OF Shin-Soo Choo (hamstring) went 0 for 3 with two walks in a rehab start for Double-A Frisco on Friday. He's playing a second game with Frisco on Saturday night with a rest day scheduled on Sunday. If all goes well, Choo is expected to join the team in Oakland as soon as Monday.
Mariners: Hernandez is feeling better but still in a walking boot due to a strained calf suffered two weeks ago. He had another MRI on Friday but is still not close to a return. Manager Scott Servais said Hernandez will need more than a couple bullpens to build his arm back up given the time he's missed already, and there's no set timetable at this point.
UP NEXT
Rangers: LHP Cole Hamels (5-1, 3.32 ERA) allowed just two runs on four hits over seven innings in his only start against Seattle this season, on opening day. Hamels is 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA over his last three starts, which matches his longest winless streak as a Ranger. He allowed just two runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts in his last outing against Houston.
Mariners: LHP Wade Miley (6-2, 5.27 ERA) is 0-1 with an 8.25 ERA in two starts against Texas this season.
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