Folty lacks support in solid 7-inning start

SEATTLE -- The Mariners opened Thursday afternoon’s matchup against the Rangers by sitting down three Texas hitters in order before J.P. Crawford launched a leadoff double just out of reach of right fielder DJ Peters’ glove in the bottom half of the frame.

That first inning was indicative of the Rangers’ day on both sides of the field, as they fell, 3-1, in a quick showdown at T-Mobile Park.

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Rangers starter Mike Foltynewicz was able to eat seven innings, though he gave up three runs, two of which were on solo homers. Foltynewicz said he felt more comfortable on the mound than he has in recent weeks and was able to mix his pitches well enough to keep the Mariners off balance.

“I think that's the best we've seen him throw all year, honestly,” said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. “Unfortunately the two homers made it not look as good, but seven innings and three runs is plenty to give us a chance to win a game. I thought his stuff had a lot of life to it."

Crawford reached base all three times against Foltynewicz, including a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Three of Crawford's six homers this season have come off of Foltynewicz. This is also the 10th time this season that the right-hander has given up multiple home runs in a start.

“I thought [Foltynewicz] was really good today,” Woodward said. “He challenged Crawford on the 3-1 count and he hit it out. He doesn't hit a ton of homers, you normally don't get burned by a homer right there. Honestly, [Jake] Fraley’s homer was a pretty good piece of hitting. It was a changeup away that he kind of wrapped around. It was maybe not the perfect pitch to Fraley, but it wasn't a badly executed pitch.”

Foltynewicz added that he really wanted to work on limiting the “big inning” and not allowing things to spiral after giving up a home run. After each run scored by the Mariners on Thursday, Foltynewicz was able to immediately get out of the inning instead of letting it snowball.

“I know if I just keep this team in it, there's always an opportunity for us to win,” Foltynewicz said. “Just keep battling and all that fun stuff and everything will take care of itself. I just tried to get deep in the game and everything else will take care of itself.”

The Texas offense didn’t give him much breathing room, though, struggling to put anything together against Mariners starter Marco Gonzales, who tossed a complete game. The only one to do any damage was utilityman Charlie Culberson, who hit a 390-foot home run in the second inning to give the Rangers an early lead.

Gonzales needed just 108 pitches to get through the Rangers’ lineup, notching nine strikeouts in the process. Jason Martin was the only other Texas hitter to record a hit, a single that immediately followed Culberson’s home run.

Culberson said you have to tip your cap to Gonzales, but he didn't want to give too much away about the team’s approach before they face him again next week.

Woodward, on the other hand, didn’t mince words about the offense’s approach to Gonzales, saying that he pitched exactly how they expected him to and Rangers hitters just couldn’t execute.

“It's just honestly a lack of execution on a pitch that we knew we were getting,” Woodward said. “When it happens over and over again it's a little bit frustrating, because it's not like the guy was throwing 99 mph, where it's impossible to hit. He was giving us a pretty good pitch to hit. We just didn't do anything with it and we didn't hit any balls hard. I don't know how else to say it. There wasn't a lack of adjustments. It's just we just didn't hit his pitches that we knew were coming.”