ARLINGTON, Texas-A daring dash from Elvis Andrus put Jurickson Profar in position to come through in his second game as the replacement for benched Texas slugger Prince Fielder.
On deck: A look at what's happening all around the majors today
HOMER HAPPY Tampa Bay star Evan Longoria homered in all four games of a weekend series at Minnesota, connecting twice on Sunday. He'll try to keep up his longball barrage when the Rays visit Arizona. LONE STAR LOSSES The Astros are 0-6 vs. Texas this season and have dropped 14 of the last 16 against their in-state rivals. Houston tries to break the skid when Mike Fiers opens a four-game set on the road against Rangers righty Colby Lewis. PERFECT START? The Cubs begin a nine-game trip at Philadelphia, owning the best record in the majors at 39-16. Jon Lester pitches for Chicago and is 5-0 with a 1.71 ERA in seven career starts vs. the Phillies. -The Associated PressThe three-run burst in the fifth inning sent Texas to its 12th win in 15 games.
"We talk about the freebies," said manager Jeff Banister, whose team is an AL-best 34-22. "I know early on in the season, we were aggressive in certain situations and it seemed to cost us. But the one thing that we never shy away from is to continue to stay aggressive, push the envelope."
Andrus trotted off the bag after Romero caught Bobby Wilson's shallow flyball, but took off in a sprint just as Romero was about to make an easy toss in. The lofty throw skipped past catcher Chris Iannetta as Elvis was sliding head-first into home.
"I know it was a shallow flyball, but I tagged because you never know what's going to happen," Andrus said. "As soon as I saw he got a little bit lazy, I just took off to home plate. I took my chances and I was glad I made it."
Derek Holland (5-4) allowed two runs-on former teammate Nelson Cruz's two-run homer in the fourth-with six strikeouts in seven innings, both season highs for the left-hander.
Closer Sam Dyson pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save in eight chances as the Rangers moved three games ahead of the Mariners after a series that started with the teams tied for the division lead.
Profar, who had two singles, now has hits in all nine games with a .390 average in the leadoff spot since he was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to fill in for Rougned Odor during the second baseman's seven-game suspension.
Odor's return prompted Profar's move to DH to replace Fielder, who is hitting .187 with one homer in his past 39 games.
Two of the three runs against Hisashi Iwakuma (4-5) were unearned in the fifth, when the Mariners made two errors. The right-hander gave up four hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings.
"He was rolling until they made an error and we made him pay," said Profar, the former top prospect who missed the past two major league seasons with shoulder problems.
Odor, in his second game back from the suspension for punching Toronto's Jose Bautista in a May 15 brawl, started the decisive inning by sliding past the diving tag of first baseman Dae-Ho Lee on a bunt single.
Andrus reached on shortstop Luis Sardinas' error and went to third on Jared Hoying's RBI single. After Andrus' mad dash that also moved Hoying to second, Romero overran Profar's single for an error when he charged the ball trying to set up for a throw to get Hoying.
"When you let down a little bit mentally, it will get you," Seattle manager Scott Servais said. "That's what it is for me, more the mental mistake, not so much the errors."
HOME ON A ROLL
The Rangers had already tied a franchise record with nine straight home series victories by taking the first two against the Mariners, who lost a road series for the first time this year. They won nine straight at home in August-September 1993. The last home series loss was the season-opening set against the Mariners, who won two after losing on opening day.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mariners: CF Leonys Martin (strained left hamstring) is close to going on a rehab assignment, likely this week with Triple-A Tacoma. He visited his old teammates in the Texas clubhouse before the game, prompting Fielder to yell at him jokingly to "get out."
Rangers: RF Shin-Soo Choo (left hamstring strain) was expected to make a rehab appearance with Double-A Frisco on Sunday night.
UP NEXT
Mariners: LHP James Paxton (0-1, 7.36) makes his second start filling in for injured ace Felix Hernandez in the opener of a four-game series against Cleveland at home.
Rangers: 36-year-old RHP Colby Lewis (5-0, 3.09), off to the best start of his career, faces Houston and tries to become the first member of Texas' season-opening rotation to open at 6-0 since Alexi Ogando in 2011.