Rangers 3 - 4 Mariners
Final
  for this game

Ogando tries to stay unbeaten in Seattle

May 3, 2011 - 2:51 PM

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(Sports Network) - Texas starter Alexi Ogando will try to keep his undefeated mark intact this evening when the Rangers visit the Seattle Mariners for the opener of a three-game series at Safeco Field.

Owner of 44 relief appearances and a 1.30 earned run average after a solid rookie season in 2010, the 27-year-old Ogando found himself as Texas' fifth starter at the beginning of the season and has done a great job holding down the spot so far while the Rangers wait for a few players to get healthy. He is 3-0 with a 2.30 earned run average through five starts, going at least six innings in each one.

Ogando's first career start came against the Mariners on April 5 and he picked up a win, holding them to a pair of hits and two walks over six scoreless innings. The right-hander did not factor into the decision of his team's 5-2 loss to Toronto on Thursday last time out as he only gave up two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out a career-high seven in six frames of work.

While Ogando is building a name for himself, Seattle starter Erik Bedard is hoping to return to the form that won him 15 games in 2006 and another 13 the following year before injuries knocked his career off track.

The 32-year-old took another step on Wednesday when he snapped a four-start losing streak with a win at Detroit, improving to 1-4 with a 5.96 ERA this season while earning his first victory since June 7, 2009. Bedard gave up a run on fie hits over seven innings, striking out three without a walk.

The left-hander did lose to the Rangers on April 4, giving up five runs -- three earned -- over five innings of a 6-4 setback, and is 4-3 with a 3.28 ERA versus them lifetime.

Texas swept that three-game series at home from April 4-6, running their overall series winning streak to four straight. The Rangers won six of nine at the Mariners last season.

Texas has lost six of its last eight overall, dropping a 5-4 decision to Oakland on Monday after the Athletics' Hideki Matsui lifted a game-winning solo homer in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Michael Young had a two-run double and knocked in three for Texas, but reliever Arthur Rhodes gave up a homer at the start of the eighth inning that led to the extra frame.

"We're going to keep battling," Rangers manager Ron Washington said about the team's struggles. "Sometimes you get tested and we're being tested,

Seattle also lost in walk-off fashion last time out as Boston's Carl Crawford hit a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday to hand the Mariners a 3-2 defeat.

The Mariners, trying to sweep a three-game series in Boston for the first time ever, had a five-game winning streak stopped. They didn't get much going against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield and scored their only two runs when reliever Bobby Jenks walked two batters with the bases loaded in the sixth.

Starter Felix Hernandez struck out 10 batters in seven innings, giving up two runs, six hits and a walk.






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