ARLINGTON, Texas — Kolby Allard pitched into the sixth inning to win another game for the Texas Rangers, Jose Trevino’s three hits included a big two-run double and hard-throwing Emmanuel Clase converted his first career save chance.
Oh, and Nick Solak has still reached base in every one of his big league games.
With contributions from all of those rookies, and a drought-busting hit by still-young Rougned Odor, the Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 6-3 on Friday night.
While still hitting only .193 in his sixth big league season, the lowest among big league qualifiers, the 25-year-old Odor snapped an 0-for-28 slump with an early game-tying RBI double and Danny Santana added his 24th homer.
Allard (3-0) pitched 5 2/3 innings in his fifth start for Texas, which came exactly a month after he was acquired from Atlanta in a trade. The 22-year-old lefty allowed two runs while striking out four and walking one. He retired 12 in a row after allowing the first two batters in the game to reach and falling behind 1-0.
“I’m just going out there and trying to execute pitches from the beginning,” Allard said. “Even in that fifth where they did scratch across that run on a few singles, infield singles, thought I went out there and still executed pretty well. That’s something you can’t control”
Clase, the fourth Texas pitcher, worked the ninth for his first career save quickly getting three outs after allowing a leadoff bloop single.
Solak led off the Texas second with a double that extended his franchise-record streak by reaching base in his 11th consecutive game to start his big league career. He scored to make it 1-1 when Odor lined a double to deep center, ending a hitless drought that got into its 10th game since a hit Aug. 20.
The Rangers went ahead to stay against Marco Gonzales (14-11) with an unearned run in the fifth that made it 3-2. They added three more in the sixth when Santana led off with a towering flyball that barely skimmed over the eight-fall wall in right field, and No. 9 batter Trevino’s two-run double.
“I just wasn’t as crisp as I’d like to be. A little bit up in the zone,” Gonzales said. “I just kind of need to put a little more focus on executing pitches and really just kind of bearing down to get myself out of that inning.”
Gonzales allowed six runs in his 5 2/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two and was hurt by two errors.
“I thought Marco was sharp early on,” manager Scott Service said. “Got in a little trouble there.”
PART OF IT ALL
Mallex Smith had a hand in all of Seattle’s runs, scoring twice and driving in one. Smith led off the game with a single, stole third base after J.P. Crawford walked and scored on Austin Nola’s double play grounder. After Seattle had three consecutive one-out singles to load the bases in the fifth, Smith’s two-out infield RBI single tied the game at 2. Smith had a triple in the seventh, and came home on an errant throw that went out of play.
SHORT HOPS
Texas clinched the season series against the Mariners for the first time since 2016, going ahead 10-7 with two games remaining this weekend. … Solak batted in the cleanup spot for the second night in a row. When he did that Thursday, he became the first Ranger to bat fourth within his first 10 big league games since Pete Incaviglia in April 1986.
FOREVER YOUNG’S
Texas will retire Michael Young’s No. 10 jersey in a pregame ceremony Saturday. He will be the fifth Ranger to have his number retired, and second this season — after Adrian Beltre’s No. 29 in June. Young started all four infield positions while playing for Texas from 2000-12. The seven-time All-Star is the franchise leader for games played (1,823), hits (2,230), runs (1,085), doubles (415) and triples (55). The other retired numbers are former manager Johnny Oates (No. 26), strikeout king Nolan Ryan (No. 34) and catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez (No. 7). MLB retired Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 in 1997.
UP NEXT
Rookie lefty Brock Burke (0-1, 0.75 ERA) is the first pitcher in Rangers history to allow one or no runs in each of his first two MLB outings. Seattle plans to use an opener before lefty Tommy Milone (3-8, 5.08), who is set to follow an opener for the 13th time this season.
