Rangers Win and Stay Close to A’s

Michael Young’s score-tying triple sparked a two-run rally in the seventh inning, and the Texas Rangers again pulled to within two games of the American League West Division lead with a 5-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.

The Rangers, who have won six of seven and 11 of 15, are tied with the Angels for second place in the West behind the Oakland Athletics.

They also remained tied with the Angels in the wild-card race, six games behind the Boston Red Sox.

Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners had a two-run single, giving him 250 hits. He is seven shy of George Sisler’s 84-year-old major league record with eight games to play.

Suzuki, who had one hit in five at-bats, has a .374 batting average, tops in the majors.

He is tied with Rogers Hornsby (1922) and Chuck Klein (1930) for fifth on the single-season hits list. Al Simmons is next on the list with 253 in 1925.

Kevin Mench homered in the sixth inning to cut Texas’ deficit to 4-3, and the Rangers went ahead in the seventh against Shigetoshi Hasegawa (4-6).

Hank Blalock singled and scored on Young’s triple to tie it. After Mark Teixeira was walked intentionally, Mench’s sacrifice fly gave the Rangers a 5-4 lead.

R.A. Dickey (6-7) pitched 3 2/3 innings of hitless relief for the victory. Francisco Cordero got three outs for his 48th save in 52 chances.

Edgar Martinez homered for the Mariners, whose three-game winning streak ended.

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Ichiro’s Quest

The progress of Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki in his pursuit of the single-season major league record for base hits, held by George Sisler:

* Suzuki on Saturday: One for five vs. Texas.

* Suzuki for the season: 250 hits, with eight games remaining.

* Sisler’s record: 257 hits in 1920 for the St. Louis Browns.