None of that stopped Texas from jumping out early again, same as it had all series. But this time Seattle didn't fold.
The Rangers led 3-1 through six behind a bullpen day that started strong, but the Mariners blew the game open with back-to-back home runs in the 7th inning, part of a four-run frame that flipped the score for good. Seattle piled up 14 hits on the day against a Rangers pitching staff that had shut them down in each of the prior two games.
It's the kind of outburst Seattle badly needed. The Mariners had been held to a .208 average and a .610 OPS as a team over their worst stretch of the season, with Cal Raleigh scuffling badly in July. One big inning against a Texas bullpen doesn't erase a monthlong slump, but it at least stopped a 4-game losing streak before it became 5, and it came against a division leader that had won 2 of the first 3 in this set by a combined 16-5.