The Texas Rangers Keep a Firm Hold on First Place as they Defeat the Seattle Mariners 8-3

The Texas Rangers still have hold of first place of the American League West after they took down the Seattle Mariners last night at Safeco Field.  They sent the newly acquired Travis Blackley to the mound as he looked for his first win in a Ranger uniform.

That's exactly what he found as Texas took down Seattle 8-3 on Monday night.  Blackley was awarded the win as he went six innings while giving up just three runs on five hits.  Ranger manager Ron Washington had this to say about the start, "Blackley did a great job out there giving up six strong innings.  He has an idea of what he is doing out there. He's able to change speeds, use his changeup and curveball and move his fastball around."

The offense held their weight as well as they were able to tag Seattle starter Joe Saunders for seven runs off of nine hits in seven innings of work.  It was led by Elvis Andrus and Alex Rios who combined for five hits and three RBI's in the contest.  A.J. Pierzynski and Mitch Moreland both added homeruns late that helped seal the win for Texas.  Ron Washington and company have now won five of their last seven games and sit two and a half games ahead of the Oakland Athletics in the race for the AL West title.

The Rangers and Mariners will play game two of their midweek series today with first pitch set for 9:10 pm from Safeco Park in Seattle.