Cal Quantrill keeps handing the Texas Rangers the same kind of night: enough innings, few enough runs, and a bullpen that can finish what he starts.
On Tuesday in Seattle, that looked like six innings, five hits, three runs, one walk, and four strikeouts on 93 pitches. Quantrill (8-5) earned the win in a 10-5 Rangers victory over the Mariners and, per the Associated Press, stretched his quality-start streak to five. ESPN's box matches the line and lists his ERA at 2.89.
The offense did the rest. Corey Seager, Wyatt Langford, and Danny Jansen each homered. Jansen drove in four runs. Nicky Lopez went 3-for-3. Texas left T-Mobile Park at 72-73, still chasing a wild-card berth.
Working through the Montes moment
Quantrill carried a 4-0 lead into the middle innings after Seager's first-pitch solo homer, Lopez's RBI single, and Justin Foscue's two-run knock. Lazaro Montes then launched a 474-foot three-run homer - the farthest Statcast-era shot at the park, the AP reported - to make it 4-3.
That was the only serious dent. Quantrill limited further damage, and Texas answered with five runs in the fifth, including Langford's two-run blast and Jansen's three-run shot. By the time Quantrill's night ended, the lead was comfortable enough for Robert Garcia's clean seventh and Adam Macko's final two innings.
Bryce Miller (4-9) absorbed the loss. Seattle managed five runs but never regained the lead after Montes' swing briefly made the game a one-run affair.
Why the streak matters in September
The AP noted Quantrill has allowed three or fewer runs in all but one start since the All-Star break. For a Rangers club sitting 1 1/2 games behind Cleveland for the third AL wild-card spot and two behind Houston in the West, that kind of reliability is the difference between a chase and a fade.
