Rangers finally slay their AL West dragon with big offensive fifth inning

It took five seasons but the Texas Rangers have finally conquered their AL West foe with their series clinching win on Tuesday over the Seattle Mariners.

That's right, with the 3-2 win in game two of the series, the Rangers have recorded their first win against George Kirby. Coming into the game, the 28-year-old New York native had made 10 starts against Texas and was 8-0 with the Mariners winning all 10 matchups.

Ghost of George Kirby has been vanquished (for now)

With the offense struggling during the first homestand of the season, there was not a lot to be exciting about going into Tuesday's game with Kirby's career head-to-head success.

Besides the 8-0 record in 10 starts, he had a 1.04 ERA with 51 strikeouts throughout his career. Even on Tuesday it took Texas until the fifth inning to breakthrough, getting three straight hits, including a two-run Kyle Higashioka home run to make it 3-2.

Settled by a bounce back six, one run innings from Nathan Eovaldi and three shutout innings from the Jacob's (Latz and Junis), Texas won their first series against the Mariners since September 2023.

Offense needs to show up again for Wednesday afternoon sweep

The fight is not over as Texas is aiming for a day game sweep on Wednesday to close out the homestand on a positive note before heading to Los Angeles to take on the defending champion Dodgers.

It's been a battle for the offense the last five games, mustering only four runs during the weekend series against the Reds and have only outscored the Mariners 5-3 in the first two games of the series.

As MacKenzie Gore is set to make his third start of the year, workhorse 26-year-old Bryan Woo is set to toe the rubber for the Mariners. While he's yet to get a decision this season, Woo has a 1.39 ERA, 15 strikeouts and 0.54 WHIP in 13 innings this season.

Good news for Texas though is Woo's history against Texas in his career. In seven starts, Texas has hit .248 off the right-hander, giving up six home runs, 17 earned runs, 10 walks and 33 hits in 34.1 innings of work.