Texas @ Seattle preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 14, 2011 ) Texas 5, Seattle 0

THE STORY: The Texas Rangers are rolling up the victories and scoring runs in rapid fashion as they enter the second contest of a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners. Texas slammed three homers in a 5-0 victory Thursday to increase its winning streak to eight games and move a season-beat 11 games over .500. The Rangers have outscored their opponents 58-22 during the hot streak. Seattle is heading the other direction with six straight losses and is a season-worst 8 1/2 games out of first place in the American League West. The Mariners have been outscored 29-9 during their skid.

TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, KTXA (Texas), ROOT (Seattle).

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Colby Lewis (8-7, 4.38) vs. Mariners RH Doug Fister (3-10, 3.09)

Lewis has won three straight decisions since losing to Minnesota on June 11. He has pitched at least six innings in each of his last five outings. Lewis struck out a career-best 11 while losing to Seattle on May 5. He gave up three runs and eight hits. Lewis is 4-4 with a 3.69 ERA in 15 career appearances (11 starts) against the Mariners. Ichiro Suzuki is batting .390 in 41 career at-bats against Lewis.

Fister is 0-5 over his last seven starts despite a 2.89 ERA during the stretch. He has allowed one run in three of the outings and pitched at least seven innings of six of the seven starts. Fister has walked just four batters over his last five outings. He hasn’t faced Texas this season and is 1-2 with a 4.81 ERA in four career starts against the Rangers. David Murphy is 5-for-13 with two homers against Fister.

ABOUT THE MARINERS (43-49): Seattle has lost five of seven games against Texas this season is just 9-17 against the Rangers since the beginning of the 2010 season. Catcher Miguel Olivo had two of Seattle’s five hits in Thursday’s loss, which marked the third time the Mariners have been blanked over the last 10 games. First baseman Justin Smoak had a ninth-inning single to end a string of 21 straight hitless at-bats. Smoak is just 5-for-59 since June 23. Second baseman Dustin Ackley was 0-for-4 and had a six-game hitting streak snapped. Ackley went 8-for-22 during the streak.

ABOUT THE RANGERS (52-41): Texas leads the AL West by 1 1/2 games over the Los Angeles Angels and has hit 13 homers during its eight-game winning streak. Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz and Mike Napoli all homered during Thursday’s game. The Rangers also had three doubles among 12 hits while Derek Holland was pitching his second straight shutout. Hamilton has a major-league leading 43 RBIs since coming off the disabled list May 23. Michael Young had a run-scoring single for his 97th career RBI against Seattle. Young is second on the Rangers with 60 RBIs. Shortstop Elvis Andrus had two hits and is 12-for-23 during a six-game hitting streak. Texas activated pitcher Scott Feldman and optioned reliever Darren O’Day to Triple-A Round Rock.

FINAL PITCH: The Rangers are 9-2 in July and are 16-7 over their last 23 games. Seattle is 4-7 in July and 7-16 over its last 23 games.