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24-34 - Texas takes leisurely walk to a 7-6 win in Seattle

The Rangers drew seven walks on their way to seven runs in a victory over the Mariners

By ghostofErikThompson
MLB: Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Moore is back and...well...he wasn’t very good tonight. But he also wasn’t terrible! That’s an improvement, right? Moore pitched 5 1⁄3 innings and allowed five runs ( four earned) while striking out six and walking just two.

The main problem for Moore was that he was and is extremely hittable. Moore allowed eight Seattle hits over his 108 pitches. Since the game was played in the middle of the night at Safeco Field, none of those hits went for home runs so the damage was mitigated.

The good news for Moore is the Texas bats supported his return from the DL with some runs so his outing appeared even more palatable than it would have otherwise. I don’t know if this is a start you could say gives anyone hope that Moore is off the rotation hot seat but it was probably good enough to earn him another turn.

As for those bats, they collected seven runs on eleven hits — with only three extra base hits — but were bolstered by the fact that they earned seven walks off Mariners pitchers one night after they walked eight times against Seattle.

If you showed a baseball novice the games in this series between the Rangers and Mariners, I can’t imagine they’d be able to tell which is the team that is currently two games back of the division lead and which is the one vying for a top five draft pick.

Player of the Game: Pretty much everyone in the lineup contributed nicely to a seven run night but no one player really stood out. Therefore, let’s give acknowledgement to Hanser Alberto for his 13-pitch plate appearance where he drew a walk against a tough pitcher in James Paxton.

Congrats on the best plate appearance of your career, Handsome Hanser!

Bonus nod to Jose Leclerc who pitched a scoreless seventh inning with three Ks and threw 11 of his 13 pitches for strikes.

Up Next: The Rangers close out this series and the month of May with Mike Minor on the mound against LHP Wade LeBlanc for Seattle. First pitch for the finale from Safeco is scheduled for 9:10 pm CT.