Mariners 3, Rangers 1
Justin Smoak continued his hot streak with a solo homer and Jason Vargas outdueled Colby Lewis to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Thursday.
Ichiro Suzuki added two hits and an RBI and Luis Rodriguez drove in a run for the Mariners, who took two out of three from the Rangers and have won their last three series.
Smoak opened the scoring in the second inning when his solo homer marked his 14th RBI in the last 10 games. The young slugger added a double and a single to finish 3-for-4 in the game and 7-for-12 in the series.
Vargas (2-2) stymied the Rangers, allowing one run on six hits in 7 2/3 innings while striking out three and walking a pair. The lefthander had surrendered a total of 10 runs over 12 innings in his previous two outings.
Lewis (2-4) struck out 11 in eight innings while scattering eight hits.
Brandon League struck out two in the ninth to earn his ninth save of the season.