SEATTLE _ After having to endure seven frustrating innings of Clayton Kershaw on Thursday, the Seattle Mariners were more than happy to see something different than Cy Young-level stuff and Hall-of-Fame execution.
Texas Rangers' starter Kolby Allard was the recipient of those frustrations.
The Mariners made Allard's outing brief, while making it feel interminable for him and the Rangers, scoring four runs in the first inning and rolling to a 7-4 victory Friday night at T-Mobile Park.
It should be noted that the Mariners' bullpen, which has had the finger of blame levied at it this season in losses, delivered a solid performance in relief of starter Nick Margevicius.
Joey Gerber, Matt Magill, Dan Altavilla and Taylor Williams combined to work the final 3 2/3 inning scoreless while not allowing a hit. They struck out five batters and didn't issue a walk.
But that first inning against Allard set the tone.
Mired in an 0-for-20 stretch, J.P. Crawford led off with a single to left field. He would score from first moments later when Sam Haggerty pulled a double down the third-base line and left fielder Nick Zolak had trouble picking it up.
It didn't get much better for Allard. In the midst of walking Kyle Lewis, he threw a wild pitch that scored Haggerty. He picked up one of the only two outs he would record by making a nice play on Kyle Seager's swinging bunt. But Austin Nola followed with a bloop single to score Lewis to make it 3-0. After giving up another single to Tim Lopes, Allard struck out Dee Gordon. And the third out? He wouldn't see it. Braden Bishop notched his first hit of 2020 with a double over the wall in right to make it 4-0 and No. 9 hitter Joe Odom drew a walk to end Allard's outing.
Lefty Wes Benjamin came in and struck out Crawford to end the inning. Allard faced all nine hitters in the Mariners' lineup, giving up four runs on five hits with two walks, a strikeout and a wild pitch.
The Mariners continued to add on, picking up a run in the second on Lewis' sixth homer of the season _ a 406-foot blast over the wall in center that made it 5-0.
Bishop drove in another run in the third inning with a ground ball, taking advantage of Lopes' leadoff single and stolen base.
A 6-0 lead seemed like plenty for Margevicius. Making his second start, the big lefty looked dominant for the first four innings, allowing just an infield single while striking out seven batters.
But as the Rangers adjusted to him in the second and third time through the lineup, they started to find some hard contact. Texas scored two runs with two outs in the fifth on a two-run double from Scott Heineman.
Margevicius didn't make it out of the fifth inning. He gave up a leadoff homer to Danny Santana and exited with one out and runners on first and third after a bunt single from Joey Gallo and a single from Jose Trevino. Rookie Joey Gerber entered and traded a run for an out with a sacrifice fly from Rougned Odor and got Isiah Kiner-Falefa to end the inning with a fly out.
