Picture 1: Andrew Heaney pitching in a Major League Baseball game for the Texas Rangers. Photo courtesy of Ron Jenkins of Getty Images.
Picture 2: George Kirby pitching in a Major League Baseball game for the Seattle Mariners. Photo courtesy of John Froschauer of The Associate Press.
The Texas Rangers have a lot on their minds after clinching their first playoff berth since 2016.
However, they were forced to travel to Tampa Bay as, despite a 6-1 victory in Game 3 over their final regular season series against the Seattle Mariners, a 1-0 shutout loss paired with an 8-1 Houston Astros victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks led the Rangers missing out on the AL West division title.
The division goes to Houston by way of the season series tiebreaker, with the Astros winning nine of 13 against Texas in the regular season, relegating the Rangers to a wild card spot for a best-of-three series on the first week of October.
What once was a celebration of a playoff clincher turned into a little silence when the Astros downed the Diamondbacks 1-0 on the night when the Rangers clinched.
And then homefield advantage and a first round bye into a road trip to St. Petersburg, Florida, as the Mariners, despite being eliminated from playoff contention, played spoiler to the Rangers' AL West hopes.
To say the Mariners had nothing to play for in Game 4 would be an inaccurate statement.
However, some frustration mounted on Seattle's side, especially since there were minimal moves made at the trade deadline on their part while other contenders were more aggressive.
The Rangers got rolling when they put together a four-run third inning against potential AL Cy Young runner-up Luis Castillo, limiting him to his shortest outing on the season at 2 2/3 innings. Two-out hits from Nathaniel Lowe, Jonah Heim, and Leody Taveras all resulted in runs, with Heim hitting a two-run base hit with an 0-2 count after fouling off three straight pitches. Taveras' broken bat RBI base hit expanded the lead to 4-0.
And the Rangers never looked back, as Andrew Heaney and three relievers shut down the Mariners, with Heaney filling in for Jon Gray, who went to the 15-day injured list with a forearm strain.
They made Castillo work, shaking off any momentum that the Mariners had in the first two games, when J.P. Crawford had the walk-off two-run double in the first game and a grand slam in the second.
Castillo pitched at least five innings in his last 32 starts this season, but this time he went around on the edges too much, and he was in trouble so often. He recorded eight outs on 86 pitches, going on 3-2 counts to seven of the 18 batters he faced, and allowed five walks, one less than his season high.
However, Seattle did have a say in Game 4.
George Kirby allowed just three hits in six innings, closing the regular season with 12 scoreless innings in his final two starts against both Houston and Texas. The Rangers had no answers for Seattle's pitching staff, which has been the backbone of the Mariners throughout the season.
Through six innings, Kirby pitched 75 times, striking out seven.
Prelander Berroa and Trent Thornton filled in for the seventh and eighth innings, and Isaiah Campbell snagged his first career save in the MLB en route to a franchise-record 18th shutout, the best mark in the MLB this season.
All three of Berroa, Thornton, and Campbell pitched a combined no-hitter among the relievers for Seattle.
Dane Dunning had three days rest for Texas, and went 3 2/3 innings, and he faced trouble in the fourth when the Mariners had back-to-back base hits from Eugenio Suárez and Jarred Kelenic and a walk to Ty France, which loaded the bases.
The only run came on Dominic Canzone's infield ground out, with Suárez sliding just under Heim's tag attempt to the plate.
As Seattle's season comes to a close, they're looking for improvement for next season, with spring training starting on February 24th of next year. They close the year with an unofficial home attendance of 2,690,931, a significant jump from 2,287,267 last season and the highest since 2,725,459 in 2005.
Texas continues their breakout season onto the playoffs, having went from 68 wins last season to 90 this year.
Game 3: September 30
Scoring
Texas, Top 3rd: Nathaniel Lowe singled to center, Marcus Semien scored, Adolis García to third. 1-0 Texas
Texas, Top 3rd: Jonah Heim singled to right, Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe scored, Josh Jung to third. 3-0 Texas
Texas, Top 3rd: Leody Taveras singled to right, Josh Jung scored, Jonah Heim to second. 4-0 Texas
Texas, Top 4th: Jonah Heim walked, Corey Seager scored, Josh Jung to second, Adolis García to third. 5-0 Texas
Texas, Top 8th: Marcus Semien doubled to left, Evan Carter scored. 6-0 Texas
Seattle, Bottom 8th: Eugenio Suárez homered to left (370 feet). 6-1 Texas
Batting
TEXAS RANGERS
Marcus Semien: 4 at-bats, 1 run, 1 hit, 1 RBI, 0 home runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, .278 batting average, .350 on-base percentage, 480 slugging percentage
Corey Seager: 5 at-bats, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, .330 batting average, .393 on-base percentage, .628 slugging percentage
Robbie Grossman: 5 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, .238 batting average, .340 on-base percentage, .394 slugging percentage
Adolis García: 4 at-bats, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home run, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, .245 batting average, .328 on-base percentage, .509 slugging percentage
Nathaniel Lowe: 4 at-bats, 1 run, 2 hits, 1 RBI, 0 home runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, .263 batting average, .362 on-base percentage, .416 slugging percentage
Josh Jung: 3 at-bats, 1 run, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, .267 batting average, .316 on-base percentage, .469 slugging percentage
Jonah Heim: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 3 RBI, 0 home runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, .258 batting average, .317 on-base percentage, .438 slugging percentage
Leody Taveras: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 RBI, 0 home runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, .268 batting average, .314 on-base percentage, .423 slugging percentage
Evan Carter: 2 at-bats, 1 run, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 2 walks, 1 strikeout, .288 batting average, .403 on-base percentage, .627 slugging percentage
SEATTLE MARINERS
J.P. Crawford: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .267 batting average, .381 on-base percentage, .441 slugging percentage
Julio Rodríguez: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .276 batting average, .335 on-base percentage, .487 slugging percentage
Eugenio Suárez: 4 at-bats, 1 run, 1 hit, 1 RBI, 1 home run, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .232 batting average, .323 on-base percentage, .392 slugging percentage
Cal Raleigh: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .233 batting average, .307 on-base percentage, .459 slugging percentage
Teoscar Hernández: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .258 batting average, .305 on-base percentage, .431 slugging percentage
Dylan Moore: 1 at-bat, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeout, .208 batting average, .305 on-base percentage, .431 slugging percentage
Jarred Kelenic: 2 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, .252 batting average, .327 on-base percentage, .420 slugging percentage
Ty France: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .250 batting average, .335 on-base percentage, .366 slugging percentage
Josh Rojas: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 1 strikeout, .248 batting average, .306 on-base percentage, .341 slugging percentage
Sam Haggerty: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .253 batting average, .364 on-base percentage, .341 slugging percentage
Pitching
TEXAS RANGERS
Andrew Heaney: 4.1 innings pitched, 5 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 0 home runs, 85 pitches, 51 strikes, 4.15 ERA
Josh Sborz: 1.2 innings pitched, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 0 home runs, 13 pitches, 9 strikes, 5.50 ERA
Cody Bradford: 1.2 innings pitched, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 earned run, 0 walk, 2 strikeouts, 1 home run, 32 pitches, 22 strikes, 5.30 ERA
José Leclerc: 1.1 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 0 home runs, 15 pitches, 11 strikes, 2.68 ERA
SEATTLE MARINERS
Luis Castillo: 2.2 innings pitched, 5 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, 5 walks, 4 strikeouts, 0 home runs, 86 pitches, 52 strikes, 3.34 ERA
Matt Brash: 1.0 innings pitched, 1 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 1 strikeout, 0 home runs, 35 pitches, 17 strikes, 3.06 ERA
Gabe Speier: 1.1 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 0 home runs, 16 pitches, 11 strikes, 3.79 ERA
Eduard Bazardo: 1.1 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 0 home runs, 16 pitches, 10 strikes, 4.50 ERA
Tayler Saucedo: 0.2 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 0 home runs, 15 pitches, 9 strikes, 3.59 ERA
Andrés Muñoz: 1.0 innings pitched, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 0 home runs, 21 pitches, 10 strikes, 2.94 ERA
Justin Topa: 1.0 innings pitched, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 0 home runs, 15 pitches, 9 strikes, 2.61 ERA
Miscellaneous
Venue: T-Mobile Park
Location: Seattle, WA, United States
Attendance: 44,694 (Capacity: 47,929)
Game Time: 3 hours, 12 minutes
Broadcast: FOX
Announcers: Aaron Goldsmith (PxP), John Smoltz (color), Ken Rosenthal (reporter)
Umpires: Tripp Gibson (home plate), Brennan Miller (first base), Ryan Blakney (second base), Mark Carlson (third base)
Man of the Match: Andrew Heaney, SP, Texas Rangers
Game 4: October 1
Scoring
Seattle, Bottom 4th: Dominic Canzone grounded out to first, Eugenio Suárez scored, Ty France to second, Jarred Kelenic to third. 1-0 Seattle
Batting
TEXAS RANGERS
Marcus Semien: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, .276 batting average, .348 on-base percentage, .478 slugging percentage
Corey Seager: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .327 batting average, .390 on-base percentage, .623 slugging percentage
Mitch Garver: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, .270 batting average, .370 on-base percentage, .500 slugging percentage
Adolis García: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .245 batting average, .328 on-base percentage, .508 slugging percentage
Nathaniel Lowe: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, .262 batting average, .360 on-base percentage, .414 slugging percentage
Josh Jung: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, .266 batting average, .315 on-base percentage, .467 slugging percentage
Jonah Heim: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .258 batting average, .317 on-base percentage, .438 slugging percentage
Leody Taveras: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .266 batting average, .312 on-base percentage, .421 slugging percentage
Evan Carter: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .306 slugging percentage, .413 on-base percentage, .645 slugging percentage
SEATTLE MARINERS
J.P. Crawford: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .266 batting average, .380 on-base percentage, .438 slugging percentage
Dylan Moore: 1 at-bat, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .207 batting average, .303 on-base percentage, .428 slugging percentage
Julio Rodríguez: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .275 batting average, .333 on-base percentage, .485 slugging percentage
José Caballero: 1 at-bat, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .221 batting average, .343 on-base percentage, .320 slugging percentage
Cal Raleigh: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, .232 batting average, .306 on-base percentage, .456 slugging percentage
Luis Torrens: 1 at-bat, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .250 batting average, .300 on-base percentage, .357 slugging percentage
Eugenio Suárez: 3 at-bats, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .232 batting average, .323 on-base percentage, .391 slugging percentage
Jarred Kelenic: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .253 batting average, .327 on-base percentage, .419 slugging percentage
Ty France: 2 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, .250 batting average, .337 on-base percentage, .366 slugging percentage
Dominic Canzone: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, .220 batting average, .258 on-base percentage, .399 slugging percentage
Mike Ford: 2 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .228 batting average, .323 on-base percentage, .475 slugging percentage
Josh Rojas: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .245 batting average, .303 on-base percentage, .338 slugging percentage
Pitching
TEXAS RANGERS
Dane Dunning: 3.1 innings pitched, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 0 home runs, 54 pitches, 37 strikes, 3.70 ERA
Martín Pérez: 3.2 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 0 home runs, 41 pitches, 29 strikes, 4.45 ERA
Jonathan Hernández: 1.0 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 0 home runs, 11 pitches, 8 strikes, 5.40 ERA
SEATTLE MARINERS
George Kirby: 6.0 innings pitched, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts, 0 home runs, 75 pitches, 51 strikes, 3.35 ERA
Prelander Berroa: 1.0 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 0 home runs, 17 pitches, 10 strikes, 0.00 ERA
Trent Thornton: 1.0 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 0 home runs, 13 pitches, 7 strikes, 2.01 ERA
Isaiah Campbell: 1.0 innings pitched, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 0 home runs, 13 pitches, 7 strikes, 2.83 ERA
Miscellaneous
Venue: T-Mobile Park
Location: Seattle, WA, United States
Attendance: 43,997 (Capacity: 47,929)
Game Time: 2 hours, 1 minute
Broadcast: Regional (Texas: Bally Sports Southwest; Seattle: Root Sports Northwest), ESPN+
Announcers: Regional announcers
Umpires: Brennan Miller (home plate), Ryan Blakney (first base), Mark Carlson (second base), Tripp Gibson (third base)
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