Marcus Semien hit a game-winning single into the left field corner, bringing Leody Taveras home and leading the Texas Rangers to a 6-5 victory on Sunday. This win prevented the Seattle Mariners, who are in the hunt for a wild card spot, from gaining any ground in the AL race.

The Mariners (80-76) now find themselves two games behind in a competitive four-team wild card scenario, alongside three teams from the AL Central, with only two likely to make the playoffs.

Detroit and Kansas City are both at 82-74, tied for the final two playoff spots and four games behind the wild card-leading Baltimore. Each team has six games left to play.

Minnesota (81-75), initially in the third wild card position, is now a game behind its division rivals after being swept in a doubleheader by Boston. Seattle had a chance to catch up but squandered a 5-0 lead in Texas.

 

“These guys have faced that challenge a lot over the past few weeks,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson. “We’ve discussed their resilience and how they’ve bounced back to be ready for the next game. We’ll need to do that again.”

The Mariners, currently five games behind the Astros in the AL West, will begin a three-game series in Houston on Monday.

Texas, last year’s World Series champion, was eliminated from postseason contention on Friday. The Rangers (74-82) won their final home game, avoiding a sweep by the Mariners.

“It hasn’t been the year we wanted,” Semien said. “I’m glad we ended it like this. We just want to finish strong.”

Taveras tied the game at 5-5 with a solo home run in the seventh inning, finishing with three hits—all coming from the sixth inning onward.

The Mariners jumped to a 5-0 lead thanks to Dylan Moore’s RBI single in the second inning, Cal Raleigh’s solo home run in the third, and a three-run sixth that featured Victor Robles driving in two runs, stealing second, and scoring after a pickoff attempt led to two errors by Texas.

The Rangers responded in the sixth, narrowing the gap to one run with an RBI single from Josh Smith and a three-run homer by Wyatt Langford off starter Bryan Woo, who allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings.

Raleigh recorded his career-high 31st home run. Andrés Muñoz (3-7) took the loss.

Texas starter Andrew Heaney allowed four earned runs on seven hits, striking out four and walking one in 5 2/3 innings. Kirby Yates (7-2) pitched an inning of relief to earn the win.