Kyle Lewis, bullpen help Mariners hold off Rangers 3-2

SEATTLE – Whenever Will Vest, Drew Steckenrider and Kendall Graveman eventually return from their hiatus on the COVID-19 injured list, they will return to a bullpen that has not only survived but flourished without them.

On Friday night, the pieced-together unit was handed a one-run lead that never grew and covered four innings without allowing a run to secure a 3-2 win over the Rangers.

It was the Mariners’ fourth win in five games and 10th straight win over the Rangers at T-Mobile Park.

Erik Swanson delivered an outstanding performance, recording the final four outs of the game to notch his first save of the season.

Justus Sheffield gave the Mariners five innings, allowing two runs on six hits with two walks and just one strikeout. After working a 1-2-3 first inning, Sheffield pitched with traffic on the bases for the next four. The Rangers had eight balls in play with exit velocities of more than 100 mph. Sheffield benefited greatly from an inning-ending double play in the third, and a solid throw from catcher Tom Murphy and even better tag from J.P. Crawford to get Nick Solak at second base on at attempted advance to end the fifth inning.

Seattle grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning against Rangers starter Jordan Lyles. Kyle Lewis led off with a deep double that hopped over the wall in center. Ty France followed with a crisp single to right field to score Lewis. But it would be their only run in the inning. France moved up to third on Tom Murphy’s two-out single. The Mariners looked like they might get another run on Donnie Walton’s hard groundball to the right side. But Rangers second baseman Nick Solak made a nice stop and throw to first to end the threat.

The Mariners pushed the lead to 3-0 an inning later when Lewis picked up his fifth homer of the season. He sat on a 1-1 breaking ball from Lyles, driving it just over the wall in right field for a two-run homer. It was his fifth homer of the season.

Given a 3-0 lead, Sheffield gave a run back in the fourth on a sacrifice fly and another run in the fifth, allowing three straight singles to start the inning.

With Sheffield unable to avoid hard contact and the heart of the Rangers order coming to the plate in the sixth, Servais went to his bullpen despite his starter having thrown just 74 pitches.

Left-hander Anthony Misiewicz entered to face Nate Lowe, Adolis Garcia and Joey Gallo in the sixth and protect a one-run lead. He turned in one of his best appearances of the season, striking out the side – all swinging – in a dominant showing. It was a bit of redemption for Misiewicz against the Rangers. The last time he faced Texas on May 8 in Globe Life Field, he lasted just a 1/3 of an inning, giving up three runs on three hits and taking a loss.

Right-hander J.T. Chargois pitched a scoreless seventh, getting a little help after a one-out walk with an inning-ending double play.

NOTE: Mariners’ Shed Long Jr. began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma on Friday.