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Seattle Mariners Beat Up On Texas Rangers For Fourth Straight Victory, Edwin Diaz Named Reliever Of The Month

By Ryan DeVault
Published on: 10:50 PST, Aug 2, 2017

The Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers again on Tuesday night (August 1), running their current winning streak to four games in the process. Now the Mariners have a chance to finish off a sweep of the Rangers in Game 3 on Wednesday night (August 2), possibly allowing the team to move one game closer in the Wild Card race.

The 8-7 victory for the Mariners was a really hard-fought one, with some timely hitting and key relief pitching coming up huge for the team. Nick Vincent pitched a scoreless eighth inning and then closer Edwin Diaz pitched a perfect ninth inning to slam the door. This was the 21st save of the season for Diaz, who has been very dominant on the mound since the All-Star break.

The bullpen could be a bit taxed heading into the series finale against the Rangers, though, as Erasmo Ramirez only lasted into the fourth inning on Tuesday night. The team now needs starter Ariel Miranda to go deep into the ballgame on Wednesday, because there is no off day for the Mariners this week. Once the series against the Rangers concludes, the Mariners head off to play four games against the Kansas City Royals. The heat in Kansas will make it difficult for pitchers on both sides.

The offense also came up big for the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday, with five hitters each finishing with two hits. Leonys Martin was one of them again, going 2-for-5 with two RBIs as the starting right fielder. Nelson Cruz was also 2-for-5, connecting on his 22nd home run of the season in the second inning. Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs to raise his batting average to .269 on the season.

There is still some room for improvement, as Danny Espinosa committed an error on a bad throw and Leonys Martin was picked off of first base by Rangers starting pitcher Nick Martinez. The Mariners will have to continue cleaning things up if the team wants to make a real push in the Wild Card standings. Finishing the sweep of these Texas Rangers on Wednesday night would certainly help the cause.

In the updated Wild Card standings, the Mariners are at 55-53, three and a half games behind the New York Yankees (57-48) and just one and a half games behind the Kansas City Royals (55-50). The Royals are on the road against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, but then the two teams face off in a really important series over the weekend. If the Seattle Mariners can find a way to sweep those Kansas City Royals, the team will find itself in a playoff spot.

[Featured Image by Rick Yeatts/Getty Images]

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