Rangers thump Paxton in Ross' solid debut

ARLINGTON -- Starting pitcher Tyson Ross and outfielder Carlos Gómez came roaring off the disabled list and led the Rangers to a 10-4 victory over the Mariners on Friday night. Gomez, who was playing for the first time since May 14, was 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs in leading Texas to its sixth win in seven games.
Ross was pitching for the first time since April 4, 2016, as the Padres' Opening Day starter. He held the Mariners to two runs over 5 2/3 innings and earned his first victory since Aug. 31, 2015. Ross allowed two hits, walked three and struck out five while throwing 95 pitches.
"He was tough," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "He's got swing-and-miss stuff, and nothing was straight tonight. When you look at expectations ... what a great job. Based on the hits, it exceeded our expectations."

Mariners left-hander James Paxton lost his second straight start by allowing a season-high seven runs in 3 2/3 innings to fall to 5-2 with a 3.23 ERA. It's the fourth time in 60 career starts that Paxton has allowed seven or more runs in a game. It's the sixth time he has been unable to get through four innings.
"He just doesn't have any rhythm at all," manager Scott Servais said, as Paxton struggled for a third straight outing since returning from the disabled list. "You saw the [three] walks tonight, that certainly came back to bite us. Just the ability to repeat delivery and locate the fastball. Even his secondary stuff wasn't sharp tonight."

The Mariners managed just seven hits, including Jarrod Dyson's fourth home run, against 13 hits by the Rangers. Seattle has lost six of its last nine. The Mariners had won five of the first six meetings between these teams, but the Rangers scored just 16 runs in those first six games.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Beltre battles for historic hit: The Rangers trailed, 1-0, when Elvis Andrus' one-out double in the third brought home the tying run and left runners on second and third. Paxton then got ahead of Adrián Beltré 0-2 with a chance for a big strikeout. But Beltre fouled off two pitches before lining a fastball to right field for a two-run single that put the Rangers ahead. It was the 2,956th hit of his career, tying Wee Willie Keeler for 33rd all-time and it was the big hit in the Rangers five-run inning.

"He's our most veteran hitter," Banister said. "To come through there, that's a confidence-builder, and all these hitters want to contribute."
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Zunino breaks up no-hit bid in 5th: Ross gave up several hard-hit balls in the first four innings. Kyle Seager's lineout to second baseman Rougned Odor had an exit velocity of 97 mph, according to Statcast™. But, Ross did not give up a hit until two outs in the fifth, when Mike Zunino hit a high pop that fell into shallow center field for a single. The only other hit Ross allowed was a two-out RBI single to Nelson Cruz in the sixth. That was his last batter faced.

QUOTABLE
"Today is the first day we [are] all together. So you know, we'll see what happens when we have the lineup that can do the job. To come back and have a game like this, I can't wait to come here tomorrow." -- Gomez, on returning from the DL
"He's a little funky. It's deceptive. But he got some breaking balls over early in the game. His command was a little off, but we didn't get much going at him at all. It is deceptive. It's a shorter stride, throwing the ball downhill. He's had success in this league. He had had a good night tonight. It happens." -- Servais, on Ross

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Dyson hit his fourth homer of the season in his 64th game for the Mariners with a 407-foot solo shot in the seventh. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound speedster totaled seven home runs in 550 games over his previous seven seasons in the Majors with the Royals, where his career high was two.

BANISTER WINS TWO CHALLENGES
Delino DeShields was on base three times with two singles and a walk. One of the hits came with help from his manager. DeShields was thrown out trying to beat out a grounder in the seventh, but Banister challenged the call at first and replay overturned the call, giving him an infield single. Banister also won a challenge in the ninth when Dyson was ruled safe at first when third baseman Beltre bobbled his grounder.

WHAT'S NEXT
Mariners:Yovani Gallardo (3-6, 6.11 ERA) makes his second start of the year against his former Rangers team in Saturday's 2:05 p.m. PT game at Globe Life Park. The 31-year-old allowed one run on four hits over six innings but took a no-decision in a 13-inning, 3-1 Texas win in Seattle on May 5.
Rangers: Left-hander Martín Pérez (2-6, 4.56 ERA) takes the mound at 4:05 p.m. CT Saturday. Perez is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in his last four starts. He is 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA in his last six starts against the Mariners.
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