By TIM BOOTH
SEATTLE (AP) _ Mike Leake outpitched Mike Minor in what could be the final start for each before the upcoming trade deadline, Daniel Vogelbach hit a pair of solo home runs, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-3 on Wednesday.
Leake and Minor have both been the subject of trade rumors _ Minor more than Leake _ leading up to next week’s trade deadline. But it was Leake with the better performance in his first start since taking a perfect game into the ninth inning last Friday against the Angels.
Leake (9-8) threw seven innings, his only mistake giving up a two-out, two-strike home run to Roughned Odor in the sixth inning. Leake struck out seven, walked none and threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of 29 batters.
Leake’s streak of 14 consecutive scoreless innings ended thanks to Odor. After a pair of two-out singles, Leake left an 0-2 pitch to Odor elevated and the Texas second baseman didn’t miss, hitting his 18th home run of the season and fourth of the series. Odor homered in the series opener on Monday and hit a pair of long balls on Tuesday night.
Anthony Bass worked a perfect eighth in relief of Leake and Roenis Elias pitched the ninth for his 13th save.
The Rangers lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
Minor (8-6) has acknowledged all the trade discussions have been a distraction, especially with the Rangers’ slide after the All-Star break that has seen them fall from wild-card contenders into likely sellers over the next week. Minor seemed fine for the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth.
Vogelbach started the big inning with a line drive shot down the right field line for his 24th homer. That was the start of four straight hits to start the inning, including an RBI infield single from Kristopher Negron. An error by catcher Jeff Mathis scored another run and J.P. Crawford capped the four-run inning with an RBI single.
Vogelbach hit his second homer in the sixth, a towering shot to right-center. It was his third career multihomer game.
Minor was lifted after the sixth, giving up eight hits and four earned runs. He struck out five.
NO GALLO
Texas slugger Joey Gallo was out of the lineup after leaving Tuesday’s game with a sore right wrist that’s bothered him for a while. X-rays were negative, but it was unclear if a stint on the injured list is needed.
SANTANA WATCH
Seattle is still awaiting the results of an MRI on the right elbow of outfielder Domingo Santana after he left Tuesday’s game with discomfort in his arm. Santana said the elbow has been bothering him since the All-Star break and was aggravated making a throw in Tuesday’s game. While Seattle has not made a decision on whether Santana needs to go on the injured list, it appears likely he’ll miss several games.
UP NEXT
Rangers: RHP Ariel Jurado (5-6) will start as Texas begins a four-game series in Oakland. Jurado will make his 12th start, but is 0-3 with an 8.31 ERA in July.
Mariners: Seattle is expected to use an opener to be followed by LHP Wade LeBlanc on Thursday against Detroit. LeBlanc (5-3) has a 3.05 ERA in eight games after using an opener.