Thoughts on a 7-3 Rangers loss
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 18: Cal Quantrill #44 of the Texas Rangers pitches during the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on April 18, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Olivia Vanni/Getty Images) | Getty Images Mariners 7, Rangers 3 At least the Rangers scored an earned run off of George Kirby. That hadn’t happened in a long, long time.
Overall, though a frustrating game. The pitching wasn’t great, and the offense had lots of opportunities but didn’t cash in. All that leads to a loss.
For the second game in a row, a veteran Rangers starter struggled to miss bats against the Mariners, resulting in a shorter-than-desired outing. Nathan Eovaldi needed 25 pitches to get through the first inning, when the Mariners took a 1-0 lead, then 22 pitches to get through four batters in the second. In the first nine batters there was a 10 pitch at bat against Eovaldi, a nine pitch at bat, and an eight pitch at bat.
A six pitch third got things a little back on track, though Seattle scored twice more off of Eovaldi in the fourth. Eovaldi started the sixth, but allowed a homer to Luke Raley and a single to Dominic Canzone, leading Skip Schumaker to go to the pen. Cal Quantrill pitched the final three innings, starting off strong, striking out the first three batters he faced, but being touched up for three runs in the eighth inning.
At that point, though, the Rangers were just trying to avoid using another arm in a bullpen that has carried a heavy load on this road trip. Somehow, the Rangers picked up 11 hits and eight walks and yet still only scored three runs. One of those was a Josh Jung homer, the aforementioned earned run off of George Kirby.