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Rangers welcome Mariners to Arlington

Aug 8, 2011 - 2:48 PM (Sports Network) - The Texas Rangers try to keep their perch atop the American League West standings this evening when they open a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Texas maintained its slim one-game edge on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim over the weekend, as it took two of three from the Cleveland Indians. In Sunday's rubber match, the Rangers scored five times in the eighth inning on their way to a 5-3 win.

Rangers infielder Michael Young did not play a factor in the pivotal frame, but had two hits to reach 2,000 for his career.

"It definitely would not have been the same if we didn't bust it open in the eighth with five runs," Young said of his accomplishment. "The most important thing is to get the win."

Darren Oliver (4-5) earned the win behind Colby Lewis, who gave up three runs on five hits in 7 1/3 innings.

Matt Harrison will get the call tonight for the Rangers, as he tries to bounce back from his first loss in more than a month. Harrison was defeated in Detroit on Wednesday, allowing four runs and nine hits in six innings to drop him to 9-8 on the year to go along with a 3.08 ERA.

Harrison beat the Mariners the last time he faced them and is 3-1 lifetime against them with a 2.84 ERA in 10 games (six starts).

Seattle, meanwhile, will counter with lefty Charles Furbush, who won his fist start with the Mariners on Wednesday. Furbush, acquired from Detroit in the Doug Fister deal, held the Oakland Athletics to a run and two hits over five innings to run his record to 2-3 on the year, while lowering his ERA to 3.52.

"I'm looking forward to getting back out there," Furbush said. "I felt pretty good. I hadn't started in a while, but it felt good to get back out there. I just tried to put the team in position to win."

This will be his first-ever start against the Rangers.

Seattle lost a heartbreaker on Sunday, as Felix Hernandez was outdueled by Ervin Santana in a 2-1 loss to the Angels.

Hernandez (10-10) tossed his third complete game of the season, but it came in a losing effort. He allowed two runs on four hits with 12 strikeouts in just the second loss in the last six games for the Mariners.

Texas has dominated the Mariners this season, taking eight of the 10 meetings, including all three of the matchups in Arlington.