Nick Tepesch won for the first time in more than 10 months, Shin-Soo Choo hit a tie-breaking home run, and the Texas Rangers defeated the Seattle Mariners 4-3 on Wednesday.
Choo led off the fifth with his homer into the bullpen in left-center. Joakim Soria pitched a perfect inning for his eighth save.
Tepesch (1-0) went 6 1-3 innings for his first win since last July 5. He allowed five hits and two walks.
Texas scored three runs in the first inning against former Rangers right-hander Chris Young (3-2). Daniel Robertson led off with a walk and scored on Elvis Andrus' homer. Alex Rios singled home the third run.
Seattle scored three times to tie it in the fourth. James Jones tripled and scored on Michael Saunders' single.
Robinson Cano then hit a two-run homer. Center fielder Michael Choice ran back to attempt a catch, but his glove hit the wall as the ball barely cleared it.
The Mariners threatened in the seventh. With one out, Tepesch walked Dustin Ackley and John Buck. Left-hander Robbie Ross replaced Tepesch and escaped the inning when pinch hitter Stefen Romero grounded into a double play.
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Tepesch threw a career-high 112 pitches in his second start this season in the majors.
After Cano doubled with one out in the sixth, Tepesch regrouped to retire Kyle Seager on a fly ball and struck out Justin Smoak.
The Mariners also had a runner at second with one out in the eighth, but Neal Cotts struck out Cano and Seager.
Seattle had only one baserunner in the first three innings: Seager on a leadoff single in the second. He was erased in an unusual 4-5-3 double play. With Texas' defense shifted to the right, Smoak grounded to second baseman Luis Sardinas, who threw to Adrian Beltre covering second. Beltre's relay throw to first beat Smoak.
Young gave up seven hits and three walks in 6 1-3 innings.
NOTES: Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder (herniated disk in his neck) missed a fourth consecutive game, and center fielder Leonys Martin (stiff neck) was not in the starting lineup for the second game in a row. . The teams split the two games in the series, which lasted less than 21 hours. . With no starting pitcher listed for Sunday's game in Detroit, manager Ron Washington indicated Texas might forgo a scheduled fifth injury rehab start for LHP Joe Saunders so he can start that day. On Tuesday, Saunders allowed one run in seven innings for Triple-A Round Rock. . C Chris Gimenez made his Rangers debut. Washington said Gimenez also would catch RHP Yu Darvish on Friday against the Tigers, and that he expected Gimenez to continue to work with Darvish. . The Mariners have two injured players almost ready for rehab assignments at Triple-A Tacoma. If LHP James Paxton (strained back muscle) succeeds in a side throwing session Thursday, he could make a start Sunday, manager Lloyd McClendon said. Outfielder Logan Morrison (strained right hamstring) could join Tacoma as early as Friday.
