ARLINGTON, Texas - The Texas Rangers didn't catch any breaks before Tuesday's game against Seattle started with both Leonys Martin and Prince Fielder were scratched from the lineup.
They didn't catch any breaks once the game began either as the Mariners used some well-placed hits off Colby Lewis and the Texas offense was back to its dormant self as Seattle rolled to a 6-2 victory.
The Rangers have now lost 10 of their last 14 games and are eight games out in the American League West.
"We're just going through a rough time right now," said Adrian Beltre, who provided the Rangers with a glimmer of hope with a second-inning homer that gave the Rangers a brief 1-0 lead. "Hopefully we can get out of it quick. We all believe that we can do better and we have no doubt that we have a team good enough to accomplish what we want to do."
If the Rangers' hopes Tuesday weren't dashed with the lineup changed, they were dashed once the Mariners scored four times off Lewis in the third inning. Brad Miller's bloop single started the ominous frame and was followed by a bunt single from James Jones. Michael Saunders tied the game with a single to center and two batters later Rangers' killer Kyle Seager put the Mariners up for good with a two-run flare to left.
The Mariners were able to put four runs on the board with their four hits off Lewis in the third. He ended up bouncing back and allowing just one more run in his six innings of work but he couldn't undo the damage done in the third.
"I had one inning, that was pretty much it," said Lewis, who pitched six innings for the first time this year despite 12 of Seattle's first 20 batters reaching. "The leadoff hit kind of dropped in there and I had the drag bunt. It just kind of led to an escalated inning. I didn't get hit around. It was just a bunch of singles, a bunch of jam jobs, maybe one or two that was hit hard all night. It was one of those nights I felt like I made pitches when I needed to and they just fell in."
The Rangers didn't have many pitches fall in at all. Texas countered a Seattle run in the top of the fourth with their own in the bottom of the frame but that was the extent of the offense against Hisashi Iwakuma (3-0).
Texas had six hits, with just one coming after the sixth inning. The Rangers got just one ball out of the infield in the final two frames.
While the offense is going bad, having scored two or less runs in three of the last four games, they aren't using the injuries as an excuse.
"We're trying," Alex Rios said. "We're staying positive. That's the only thing we can do. We just have to stay positive and go about our business the same way we would have had if we had everyone. I don't think we're expecting bad things to happen to us. We're coming in here and expecting the best with what we have. That's the only way you can keep going forward."
