In the 10th, JP Crawford hit a single that drove in the winning run. There is a time and a place.
J.P. Crawford's 10th-inning single was the difference as the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers.
The club-record 15-game winning streak set in the 2001 playoffs is within reach. They have won 21 of their past 24 games to take eight series in a row for the first time in 21 years.
The SeattleMariners would match the longest winning streak in the majors this year with a victory in the series finale Sunday. Last month, Atlanta won 14 games in a row.
Crawford hit a one-out single down the line in front of the first baseman, who was the fifth Texas pitcher. The automatic runner was Sam Haggerty, who came on as a pinch runner for Santana.
Haggerty told the Seattle manager that he could steal third base off Martin, and the manager agreed. If you feel it, take it. Don't be afraid.
Crawford said that the stolen base made their jobs simpler. The entire infield was changed. We have an extra chance to try to get him over now that there are more holes. Get him in.
After walking the leadoff batter, Diego Castillo gave up a double-play liner to the next batter. Matthew Festa struck out in the 10th.
Chris Woodward said that they had a chance to win the game. We didn't play baseball. It's simple. We could have won that game. I think we should have won that game.
Crawford and Santana were back in the lineup. Crawford missed two games because of a bruised right index finger, and Santana was placed on the restricted list after a fire at his home in Florida.
Ty France, who had three more hits to raise his batting average to.302, had a single in the third before Santana hit a home run. France had a double in the ninth, but his pinch runner couldn't score.
Nathaniel Lowe, mired in a 4-for-26 slide, led off the Texas second with a double and scored on a single. The Rangers tied the game in the seventh after another leadoff double, this one by hot-hittingLeody Taveras, before ElierHernandez got his first career run. In a seven-game hitting streak, the outfielder has hit.593 with six doubles.
The final game before the All-Star break will be a start by Chris Flexen, who is perfect in five career starts against the Rangers.
"Everyone is doing their job, pitching in and really keeping a very calm demeanor about them," he said. You aren't always going to get a big hit or a big shutdowninning. We have been able to do it through the streak and it has been great.
The AP contributed.
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