Seattle @ Texas preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 13, 2016 ) Texas 2, Seattle 4

Yu Darvish passed the test in his first start since returning from Tommy John surgery and strives to follow up with another solid outing as the Texas Rangers open a three-game series against the visiting Seattle Mariners on Friday. Darvish allowed one run in five innings in his season debut while beating the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday when he tossed 81 pitches.

Darvish missed all of last season with the elbow injury and he will be on a 95-pitch limit against the Mariners. "Right now, I don't know if I want to push him to 100," manager Jeff Banister told reporters. "That 85 to 95 (limit), and a lot of that is dependent on how he gets to that." The Rangers and Mariners are tied for first place in the American League West after Seattle overcame a 12-2 deficit to record the largest comeback victory in franchise history with a 16-13 decision over the San Diego Padres on Thursday. Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager went 3-for-5 with five RBIs in the comeback win and went 11-for-16 with two homers, 11 RBIs and eight runs scored in the four-game home-and-home series.

TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, ROOT (Seattle), FSN Southwest (Texas)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners RH Taijuan Walker (2-5, 3.31 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Yu Darvish (1-0, 1.80)

Walker has lost five consecutive decisions and has pitched five or fewer innings in four of them. He was roughed up by Minnesota in his last turn when he served up three homers while allowing five runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings. Walker is 1-1 with a 3.47 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) against Texas and received a no-decision on April 13 when he gave up one run and five hits in six innings.

Darvish struck out seven and gave up just three hits in his season debut and he says he is fine with the possibility of being on a pitch count throughout the month of June. "It’s better to have a pitch count than they push you and you overpitch," Darvish told reporters. Darvish is 3-3 with a 4.47 ERA in eight career starts against Seattle and has struggled against Seager, who is 7-for-22 with four doubles and seven RBIs against Darvish.

WALK-OFFS

1. Mariners 1B Dae-Ho Lee went 7-for-12 with two homers and seven RBIs in the series against San Diego.

2. Texas RF Nomar Mazara had seven homers and 17 RBIs in May and was named American League Rookie of the Month for the second straight time.

3. Seattle 2B Robinson Cano went 2-of-4 with three runs scored Thursday and has reached base in 31 consecutive games.

PREDICTION: Rangers 5, Mariners 3