J.P. Crawford grabbed the celebratory trident and raised it toward the sky eliciting even more cheers from the fans in his home ballpark. Rarely has a home run — a grand slam in the midst of a playoff chase — felt as fulfilling as this one did for the Seattle Mariners shortstop. “I feel pretty good right now,” Crawford said.
J.P. Crawford stood with his arms out, ready to accept the cooler filled with water about to be dumped across his back. Crawford lined a two-run double with two out in the ninth inning, lifting the Mariners to a 3-2 win over Texas on Thursday night and stopping the Rangers from clinching a playoff berth for at least one day. “Honestly, all that was going through my head was just ‘get it done,’” Crawford said.
The only postseason experience of Dane Dunning's career happened three years ago when he started the decisive game of the wild-card round for the White Sox, but got pulled after only four batters. With his Texas Rangers close to securing their own playoff return, Dunning was a bit more nervous than usual when he took the mound Wednesday night. Dunning yielded three hits over seven dominant innings, Adolis García had a homer and an RBI double, and Texas moved to the brink of its first playoff berth since 2016 with a 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.
Adolis García, Mitch Garver and Nathaniel Lowe hit consecutive home runs in the sixth inning, and the first-place Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-1 on Monday night for their sixth straight victory. Texas maintained its 2 1/2-game lead in the AL West over Houston, which won 5-1 at Seattle to drop the skidding Mariners four games behind the Rangers with six to play. Marcus Semien also launched a solo homer for Texas, and Jon Gray (9-8) pitched six strong innings for his first win since Aug. 11.
The Texas Rangers secured a crucial three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners in the tight AL West by hanging on through a rough patch from a bullpen that not long ago threatened to derail a promising season. Suddenly 2 1/2 games up in the division after a 9-8 victory in their home finale Sunday, the Rangers hit the road for the final seven games looking to wrap up the No. 2 seed in the American League playoffs and home-field advantage in a Division Series. “I packed like a normal seven-day trip,