Rodríguez hits 3-run homer in 8th, Mariners beat Rangers 5-4 to spoil deGrom's return

SEATTLE (AP) Julio Rodriguez hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning to help spoil Jacob deGroms return to the mound and send the Seattle Mariners to a 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night.

Back after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2023, DeGrom left after 3 2/3 innings with a 2-0 lead and the Rangers had a 4-0 advantage.

Rodriguez began Seattles rally with a double in the seventh that set up two runs.

Then in the next inning, he hit his 15th homer of the season to deep left field with two outs off David Robertson (3-4).

JT Chargois (3-1) struck out three in the eighth for the victory, and Andres Munoz struck out one in the ninth en route to his 21st save.

DeGrom struck out four and gave up four hits in his first game since April 2023, showing some of the speed and power that has made him a two-time Cy Young Award winner.

He reached 98 mph occasionally, but left before finishing the third with two runners on base when he reached his pitch count.

Texas built a 2-0 lead early, capitalizing on a costly Emerson Hancock mistake to start the game.

Hancock hit leadoff batter Marcus Simien, who moved to third on Josh Smiths single.

Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Jung delivered two-out RBI singles for a 2-0 lead.

Langford made it 3-0 with a solo home run off Hancock, his 11th of the season.

Lowe added an RBI single in the seventh to make it 4-0.

DeGrom was having a fairly easy outing until the fourth when Josh Raley doubled and moved to third on Justin Turners single.

Manager Bruce Bochy pulled deGrom one out later on his 61st pitch.

Reliever Walter Penington ended the inning with a ground out.

Seattle rallied in the seventh after reliever Jose Urena hit Victor Robles to start the inning.

He gave up a double to Rodriguez to put runners in scoring position and Cal Raleighs sacrifice fly and Randy Arozarenas RBI single made it 4-2.

TRAINERS ROOM The Rangers officially moved SS Corey Seager to the 60-day injured list.

He will undergo season-ending sports hernia surgery .

ROSTER MOVE To make space for deGrom on the roster, the Rangers optioned RHP Owen White to Triple-A Round Rock.

UP NEXT Rangers RHP Max Scherzer (2-4, 3.89 ERA) was set to make his first start since July after a stint on the injured list because of shoulder and nerve pain in his right arm.

RHP Logan Gilbert (7-11, 3.15) was scheduled to start for Seattle.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb.

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