Nathan Eovaldi pitched six quality innings and Kyle Higashioka hit a go-ahead home run, rallying the Texas Rangers to a 3-2 win over the struggling Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night in Arlington, Texas.
Eovaldi, making his 300th career major league start, picked up his first win of the season after two losses, allowing two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and a pair of walks.
George Kirby (1-2) threw an eight-inning complete game for Seattle, which lost its fourth straight and its sixth in the last seven games.
The Mariners took a quick lead against Eovaldi, who was seeking his first win and first effective start of the season as he entered with an 11.42 ERA.
Eovaldi reached 1,500 career strikeouts when he got Josh Naylor swinging to end the top of the first inning but not before serving up a first-pitch leadoff home run to Seattle’s Brendan Donovan to begin the game.
The Mariners went up 2-0 in the top of the fifth inning on a two-out rally. A Cole Young single, Eovaldi wild pitch and Cal Raleigh’s RBI single had the Mariners up two with Kirby and his 8-0 career record against the Rangers on the mound.
But the Rangers were able to get to Kirby in the bottom of the fifth. Back-to-back singles for Joc Pederson and Evan Carter — with a throwing error from Donovan on the first — made it 2-1. Higashioka drilled a Kirby fastball into the seats in left field to give Texas the lead for good with a two-run homer.
Kirby (1-2) needed just 90 pitches to get through eight innings, allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts.
The Rangers got two scoreless innings of relief from left-hander Jacob Latz, who has not given up a run in five appearances this season.
Jakob Junis allowed back-to-back singles to open the ninth inning, but got the next three hitters in order for his second save in as many nights.
