First-place Mariners host D-backs, continue stretch against pennant winners

Championship week continues for the Seattle Mariners.

After taking two of three games in Texas to move past the reigning World Series champion Rangers and into first place in the American League West, the Mariners will return home Friday night to open a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, last year's National League pennant winners.

Ty France and Luis Urias hit two-run homers in Seattle's 4-3 victory against the Rangers on Thursday afternoon in Arlington, Texas, and ace Luis Castillo put together a quality start to earn his second straight victory after opening the season with four losses.

The Mariners have won three series in a row, taking seven of their past nine games.

"We're playing better baseball and really relying on everybody," manager Scott Servais said. "Need everybody to chip in until we get this offense really clicking."

Taking two of three at Texas was a boost for the Mariners, who lost all six of their games at Globe Life Field last season.

"It's nice to get off to a good start here. Historically, last year, it was a tough go for us. But get a couple wins under our belt here, it's a nice way to start the year," France, whose homer was his first of the season, said after the game. "We don't have to prove anything. We're a good baseball team."

The Mariners will be without shortstop and leadoff hitter J.P. Crawford, who went on the 10-day injured list Thursday with a strained right oblique suffered during batting practice the previous day. The Mariners called up Leo Rivas from Triple-A Tacoma to fill Crawford's roster spot, though it's likely Dylan Moore will get a majority of the playing time at short.

The Mariners got catcher Cal Raleigh back in the lineup Thursday after he missed one game because of dental surgery to remove a tooth.

Apparently, Raleigh broke the tooth while biting into a breakfast sandwich Monday morning on the Mariners' off day. Despite the pain, he played Tuesday in the series opener against the Rangers, hitting his fourth home run in five games and catching a shutout.

"It was pretty bad. I've never really had tooth problems. I had my wisdom teeth out before," Raleigh said. "It fractured down there and caused a lot of pain. I told the training staff that this was probably the worst pain I've ever been in, and I had the (broken) thumb and stuff."

Servais, a former major league catcher, said Raleigh lobbied to play Wednesday but instead got the night off.

"Our catcher is some kind of tough," Servais said.

The Diamondbacks, who have lost five of their past eight games, had Thursday off after a 5-1 loss the day before in St. Louis. Two of Arizona's wins during that span have come by scores of 17-1 and 14-1, the latter on Tuesday.

"We've got to find a way to toggle between nights like (Tuesday) and days like (Wednesday)," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "How are we going to continue to have quality at-bats and put pressure on the opposition? We just didn't do that."

Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen (3-1, 3.00 ERA) is scheduled to start the series opener in Seattle against Mariners righty Emerson Hancock (2-2, 6.10). Gallen is 0-1 with a 12.60 ERA in one career start against the M's, which came in 2020, while Hancock will face the Diamondbacks for the first time.

—Field Level Media