SEATTLE — Seattle used 7 pitchers and threw 193 pitches Tuesday night in a 10-5 loss to the Texas Rangers at T-Mobile Park. Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said before Wednesday’s game on Rangers Sports Network that the pitch count was the point.
Texas struck out 16 times in the game and still scored 10 runs on 11 hits.
The Seattle Mariners bullpen had not worked in two days, Schumaker said, because Bryan Woo went eight innings in the Mariners’ previous game.
“That’s not the game I want to watch. I want balls put in play,” Schumaker said. “But I will say that making the pitcher work is what we wanted to do. And I think that’s what happened in a three-game stretch trying to get to the bullpen early. We knew that they had some guys with some availability in their bullpen because the game before, Woo went eight innings. They had a fresh bullpen.”
“Trying to get to them early so we could get into the bullpen was one of the goals. We accomplished that goal,” Schumaker continued. “So I know there were some strikeouts, but getting to that almost 200 pitch count mark was one of the goals for our offense.”
Woo allowed 1 hit in a 2-0 win over the Athletics on Sunday. Seattle had lost the three games before that one and entered Tuesday having dropped four of the first five games of a seven-game homestand.
How The Texas Rangers Ran Up Seattle’s Pitch Count
Bryce Miller threw 84 pitches and did not finish the fourth inning. He left with the bases loaded and two out, and Justin Foscue greeted Jose A. Ferrer with a two-run single to center that put Texas ahead 4-0.
The fifth inning cost Seattle 25 more pitches from one reliever. Eduard Bazardo recorded 1 out and allowed 4 runs. Wyatt Langford homered off him to left center, and Danny Jansen followed with a two-out, three-run shot to the same part of the park.
Texas scored 5 runs in the inning. Four Mariners relievers worked after Bazardo.
Where The Texas Rangers Sit With 17 Games Left
Texas is 72-73 and has won two in a row. The Rangers are two games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West and 1 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the third American League wild card. Seattle fell to 67-78.
Cody Bradford (0-4, 4.45 ERA) and Mariners left-hander Kade Anderson (0-1, 5.40) opened the middle game of the series Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park on Rangers Sports Network. Jacob deGrom takes the finale Thursday at 3:10 p.m. CT. The Rangers open a three-game series at the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.
