Mariners at Rangers
Texas veteran Bartolo Colon apparently has a lot left in his 44-year-old right arm, and he will be on the mound when the Rangers host the Seattle Mariners on Saturday in the second contest of a three-game set. Colon took a perfect game into the eighth inning of his last start against the Houston Astros before allowing a double to Josh Reddick.
Reddick's hit was the only one allowed by Colon in 7 2/3 innings, but he charged with a run later in the inning for a no-decision in a game decided in 10 innings. Colon may need to be stingy again as the Rangers have scored two or fewer runs nine times this season, including Friday's 6-2 setback. The Mariners scored four runs in the ninth inning to win the opener, and the splurge was timely after the team scored just seven runs over the previous five games. "This game is tricky," Seattle center fielder Dee Gordon said in a postgame interview. "It's hard to play, even with the talent we have in our lineup. We were able to bounce back (Friday)."
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, ROOT Northwest (Seattle), FS Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners LH James Paxton (1-1, 4.57 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Bartolo Colon (0-0, 1.45)
Paxton picked up his first victory of the season Monday when he gave up one run and three hits over six innings. The 29-year-old has given up five runs over his last three turns after being roughed up for six runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings by Cleveland on March 31. Paxton is 2-4 with a 4.62 ERA in 10 career starts against Texas and has regularly been torched by Adrian Beltre (9-of-16 with one homer and six RBIs).
Colon is making his fifth appearance (third start) for the Rangers and he has a stellar 0.70 WHIP while holding opponents to a .177 batting average. He was solid in his first start of the season as well as he limited Oakland to one run and seven hits over six innings. Colon is 20-12 with a 3.84 ERA in 37 career starts against Seattle, although he has struggled with Gordon (12-for-32, one homer) and Robinson Cano (7-of-18, one homer) while shutting down Kyle Seager (4-for-24).
WALK-OFFS
1. Mariners SS Jean Segura went 3-for-5 on Friday and delivered the tiebreaking two-run double in the ninth.
2. Texas INF Jurickson Profar (concussion) returned from a two-game absence and went 1-for-4 in the opener.
3. Seattle C Mike Zunino (oblique) was activated from the disabled list and struck out in four of his five hitless at-bats Friday, while C Mike Marjama was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.