Texas @ Seattle preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 25, 2014 ) Texas 5, Seattle 6

The Seattle Mariners will try to win three in a row for the first time since starting the season 3-0 when they host the Texas Rangers on Saturday in the middle game of their three-game series. The teams hooked up for a wild one Friday night, when the Mariners scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to move ahead 6-3, only to have the Rangers score twice off closer Fernando Rodney and load the bases with one out before Adrian Beltre lined into a game-ending double play. Seattle first baseman Justin Smoak, whose two-run double had given the Mariners the lead in the eighth, made a diving catch on Beltre’s liner and then doubled up Elvis Andrus at first.

Robinson Cano continues to build momentum in his first month in Seattle. He had two more hits Friday, including a game-tying two-run double in the middle innings, and is 8-for-19 in the last five games, though his two RBIs on Friday were his first since April 17. Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder is going through a similar transition after he was traded from the Detroit Tigers in the offseason, as he has just one multi-RBI game with his new club. Beltre returning to the lineup on Friday after missing most of the month of April with a quad injury should help Fielder see better pitches.

TV: 9:10 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Texas), Root Sports (Seattle)

PITCHING MATCHUPS: Rangers RH Colby Lewis (1-1, 4.22 ERA) vs. Mariners RH Felix Hernandez (3-1, 2.04)

Lewis will make his third start of the season and second against the Mariners after sitting out all of last season and half of 2012 after undergoing elbow and hip surgeries. He got knocked around a bit by Seattle in the 7-1 loss in his season debut April 14 but was much sharper while throwing another 5 1/3 innings last Saturday in a 6-3 win against the Chicago White Sox, his first victory in 22 months. Lewis is 6-5 in his career against the Mariners with a 3.62 ERA and owns one of his five career complete games at Safeco Field.

Hernandez will be making his third straight start against a team from Texas and will be looking for his first win. He got no-decision in a 3-2 loss April 16 against the Rangers and then took the loss Monday against the Houston Astros, thanks to two errors that led to four unearned runs and another sub-par offensive performance by the Mariners in the 7-2 loss. Hernandez has struggled overall against the Rangers in his career, bringing a 12-20 mark and 4.10 ERA into the game, including an 0-4 record and 7.57 ERA in five starts last season.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Mariners hadn’t scored in the eighth inning this season until Friday.

2. Seattle OF Cole Gillespie made his season debut Friday and went 0-for-3.

3. Texas C J.P. Arencibia is 2-for-28 this month.

PREDICTION: Rangers 6, Mariners 4