In game one, Texas got 2-run homers from both Chris Davis and Michael Young off Seattle ace Felix Hernandez, while Kevin Millwood hung in there for the Rangers, giving them 7 1/3 innings of work, leaving the game with a one run lead.
Frank Francisco made the run stand up, thanks in large part to an acrobatic defensive play by Elvis Andrus, pulling to one game over .500.
"It was just a good team win," Young said. "Obviously, it was a big game for both teams. Hernandez had great stuff, off-the-chart stuff. But Milly battled through it and gave us a huge effort as he always does. The bullpen did a good job and we got some timely hits off Felix."
In game two of the short series, Vicente Padilla pitched a gem, throwing 8 innings of one-hit baseball, surrendering only one unearned run. Padilla had struggled early in the season but has shown signs of breaking out of his funk, compiling an ERA of 3.05 in his last 3 starts.
"He was outstanding," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He really was. That was what we needed. He made all his pitches, moved the ball around in the strike zone, changed speeds at the right time and worked fast. The key was throwing strikes in all parts of the strike zone."
But Erik Bedard was almost as effective for the Mariners and the game was forced into extra innings where, in the top of the 10th, Texas exploded for six runs, capped by a grand slam by catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
"Marlon and Cruz got the two-out RBI hits," Saltalamacchia said. "That took the pressure off me, and all I had to do was look for a good pitch to hit. This was huge. It was that we came into Seattle and swept. Now we've got to go on to Oakland and keep it going."
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