Kyle Cody has perfect inning in debut, Rangers lose 7-4 to Mariners

SEATTLE (AP) — Rookie Kyle Lewis hit a solo home run, former waiver wire pickup Nick Margevicius matched his career high with seven strikeouts and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 7-4 on Friday night.

Lewis’ sixth homer in the second inning put the Mariners up 5-0 after Seattle batted around in the first against Kolby Allard (0-2). Lewis also displayed patience at the plate, scoring two of his three runs following walks.

“That’s been huge,” the center fielder said. “I’ve been trying to get my walks up so I can get on base more and score more runs in different fashions. Getting my walks up, that’s been encouraging. That’s a big thing I evaluate at the end of the year, how many walks I have versus strikeouts.”

Margevicius (1-1), acquired by the Mariners in January after he was cut by the Padres, earned his first win for Seattle after entering the starting rotation due to injury. He struck out two batters in each of the first three innings and faced one over the minimum through four. After two strong outings in a row, he’s got the Mariners’ attention.

“He has really shown well for himself,” manager Scott Servais said. “This is a guy who’s still only 24 years old. He fits in the same bucket with … a number of young pitchers we have. He’s going to pitch in this league a longtime.”

The Rangers chased him after 5 1/3 innings and cut the lead to 6-4 on Scott Heineman’s fifth-inning two-run double, Danny Santana’s sixth-inning solo homer and a sacrifice fly from Rougned Odor.

The Rangers committed three errors, the most costly coming in the four-run first. Nick Solak’s bobble of Sam Haggerty’s double in the left-field corner allowed Haggerty to reach third. He then scored on Allard’s wild pitch.

Lewis and the Mariners also picked up a run in the seventh on Odor’s throwing error from second base.

“In the last little while, it’s like we just cannot stop the bleeding,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “We keep giving up hits, keep giving up hits. We have to get guys out of the game. We we were in a bind right there, getting into the bullpen in the first inning, that’s never a good thing.”

RANGERS ROOKIE

Rookie reliever Kyle Cody made his debut for the Rangers, striking out three in the eighth inning. The 6-foot-7 righty is believed to be just the eighth Texas player to play in the major leagues without appearing in Double-A or Triple-A. Cody reached High-A last year and has been working at the team’s alternate training site this season.

Woodward said he did not think the appearance was a fluke: “I mean he looked pretty darn good right there.”

The 26-year-old Cody was pleased with the perfect inning.

“I was just looking to go in there and just try and hold the emotions down and throw the ball over the plate and kind of just see what happens, and it ended up going really well and I was really happy with it,” he said.

“I kind of got told to move around a little bit at the beginning of the game, just to stay loose, so I just tried to do my best job of keeping my arm loose and ready if my name got called. And then I kind of sat down for a little bit and then they ended up saying ‘you’re gonna have the eighth inning,’ so it was good for that to happen because I’m not really used to a bullpen role,” he said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rangers: Woodward said OF/DH Shin-Soo Choo will likely be out of the lineup for a few games with “mainly a calf issue. He’s got some other issues he’d been playing through. I won’t name them, but he’s just kind of banged up for a bit.” Woodward hopes the time off will allow Choo to play consistently over the team’s last 30 games.

Mariners: 1B Dylan Moore was a late scratch with a sore wrist he injured on a swing in Thursday’s game against the Dodgers. The injury is not believed to be serious. … Seattle activated RHP Yoshihisa Hirano (illness) from the injured list. Servais said he is looking for a soft spot to let the former Arizona pitcher make his Mariners debut six weeks after going on the injured list. … Seattle also placed LHP Taylor Guilbeau on the injured list with a left shoulder strain and promoted LHP Aaron Fletcher from the alternate training site.

UP NEXT

Rangers: RHP Jordan Lyles (1-2, 7.52) takes the mound having give up nine of his 18 runs this season in the second inning.

Mariners: Rookie LHP Justus Sheffield (1-2, 4.12) returns to the mound after giving up just two runs in his last 12 innings with 11 strikeouts over that span.