The Mariners clawed out a victory against the Rangers tonight that was by no means easy, thanks to some uncharacteristically shaky pitching, but showed that even an occasional blip in their historically good pitching can be ameliorated by the magic of scoring five runs (and, admittedly, not allowing their opponents to reach that five-run number.)
Tonight’s contest was a battle between a pair of replacement starters, with Emerson Hancock making the start for Luis Castillo, still battling a strained hamstring, and Dane Dunning making a last-minute start for the Rangers after Max Scherzer suffered the same fate. The Mariners jumped on Dunning early—like, about as early as possible, as Julio Rodríguez took the first pitch he saw opposite-field for a leadoff home run.