After a sterling night of pitching from both sides, the Seattle Mariners came undone in the 12th inning as the Texas Rangers scored the go-ahead run on Brandon League’s wild pitch in a 2-0 victory on Friday.
Elvis Andrus and Michael Young had singles in the 12th and advanced on Matt Tuiasosopo’s fielding error. Andrus then scored on League’s (3-2) wild throw and Young made it 2-0 on Julio Borbon’s ground out.
Frank Francisco (3-3) pitched one inning for the win and Neftali Feliz retired the Mariners in order in the 12th for his fourth save.
In his long-awaited debut with the Mariners, left-hander Cliff Lee was nothing short of spectacular, throwing seven scoreless innings and allowing three hits. He struck out eight and walked none, while throwing 73 of 98 pitches for strikes.
Texas right-hander Colby Lewis was exceptional in tossing nine scoreless innings, striking out a career-high 10 and allowing three hits with just one walk. He retired the final 21 batters he faced despite taking the no-decision.
Seattle loaded the bases in the 10th and 11th innings but came up empty both times. In the 11th, Ichiro Suzuki was thrown out at home when Eric Byrnes faked a suicide squeeze before he struck out to end the threat.
Texas | Seattle | |
Colby Lewis | Player | Cliff Lee |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
9.0 | IP | 7.0 |
10 | Strikeouts | 8 |
3 | Hits | 3 |
0.00 | ERA | 0.00 |
Texas | Seattle | |
Elvis Andrus | Player | Ichiro Suzuki |
2 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 3 |
.400 | Avg | .600 |