Right-hander Ryan Drese (2-2, 6.25 ERA) struggled early for the Rangers (10-11) Tuesday night against the Seattle Mariners (10-10), who jumped him for three first-inning runs and never looked back before 23,064 at Ameriquest Field in Arlington.
After getting right fielder Ichiro Suzuki to ground out to begin the game, Drese surrendered a single to Jeremy Reed, who scored one batter later when third baseman Adrian Beltre homered on the first pitch he saw to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.
While with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2004, Beltre led the majors with 48 home runs.
Drese gave up three more runs on a total of eight hits before settling down after the third inning. Over 6 2-3 innings, he struck out five batters while walking three.
Meanwhile, the Texas bats tried to atone for Drese’s early missteps.
Designated hitter David Dellucci hit a solo home run in the second, while Mark Teixeira and Kevin Mench added shots of their own in the fourth to cut the Mariners’ lead to 5-3.
Aside from the trio of round-trippers, though, Seattle’s Joel Pineiro (2-1, 5.85) was solid, striking out five and walking just one over 7 1-3 innings. He induced six ground-ball outs and 11 fly outs, throwing 51 of his 75 pitches for strikes.
In fact, after Mench’s homer, Pineiro retired 12 consecutive hitters.
With one out in the eighth, however, Alfonso Soriano lifted a 2-0 pitch into the second deck in left field, ending Pineiro’s night and pulling the Rangers to within one.
Against reliever J.J. Putz, Texas loaded the bases with two outs for Mench, who could only manage a chopper to Beltre at third to end the inning.
It was as close as the Rangers would get.
Veteran right-hander Doug Brocail threw a shaky ninth, giving up two runs on three hits to give the M’s a 7-4 advantage.
Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect half-inning, striking out both Gary Matthews, Jr. and pinch-hitter Richard Hidalgo, to earn his sixth save of the season.
Seattle benefited from its two key off-season acquisitions, third baseman Beltre and first baseman Richie Sexson. The pair combined to go 5-for-9 with five runs scored and two RBIs on the evening.
The Rangers will try to end a two-game losing streak tonight when Kenny Rogers (0-2, 3.33) takes the mound against Ryan Franklin (1-2, 2.51) at Ameriquest Field in Arlington. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
