ARLINGTON, Texas — While Joe Nathan will have to deal with taking his second loss as a Ranger, the rest of the club will likely toss and turn over the many missed opportunities in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Mariners.
The Rangers had chances to pad a 1-0 lead over the first six innings, but couldn't get their usually robust offense going.
The lack of punch wasted another solid effort by starter Colby Lewis, who shutout the Mariners for 6 2/3 innings.
When the offense finally showed some late-inning life, it was from an unlikely source: A longball by Elvis Andrus.
Andrus clouted his 12th career homer – he was homerless all of 2010 – and Ian Kinsler followed with another solo shot in the seventh, but it wasn't enough.
"Tough game all night," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We go into the ninth with a two-run lead and we just didn't put it away."
The first inning may have been the Rangers' best opportunity to put away Seattle. After Michael Young knocked in Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz followed with a walk and the Rangers looked poised to extend a two-out rally.
With two outs and the bases loaded, hot-hitting David Murphy worked the count to 3-0 … and then struck out looking.
"You can look at many opportunities," Washington said. "We had other opportunities, too, to push some runs across the board and, like I said, it was a tough ballgame. When the ballgame is tough, you've got to be tough, too."
Mariners starter Kevin Millwood got tougher as well. He held the Rangers in check for the next five innings, allowing just two more hits the rest of the way and striking out six more after Murphy.
Lewis responded in kind with by striking out six and issuing no walks. In a tight contest, both veteran pitchers seemed to raise their games.
"You know that you have to go out there and make good pitches, that's just the way it is," Lewis said. "When Millie's out there doing what he needs to do and it's a one-run ballgame, you have to keep guys off the basepaths."
The Rangers had baserunners to work with in all but two innings, including a leadoff walk by Yorvit Torrealba in the second. But when they needed a clutch hit, Millwood induced ground balls and pop-ups.
"We could have put two or three more extra runs on the board, but he pitched around them," Washington said. "You've got to tip your hat."
Then came the Nathan meltdown. The Mariners, who normally struggle offensively, scored three runs in the ninth to take a game the Rangers had in their grasp for eight innings.
"It was one of those days. Sometimes it happens," Lewis said. "You've just got to roll with the punches. It's nothing that we can't bounce back from."
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire
