Padilla leads Rangers in series opener vs. Seattle

Padilla improved to 5-2 on the season against Seattle on Wednesday, as he scattered two hits over seven innings to lower his earned run average to 3.02 on the season.

Padilla is 3-5 lifetime against the Mariners with a 4.94 ERA in 11 games (nine starts). He has allowed just one earned run in 13 innings to Seattle in two starts this season.

Texas will be trying to get back in the win column this evening after having its five-game winning streak halted on Sunday with a 12-6 loss to the Oakland Athletics. Ian Kinsler went 3-for-5 and scored twice with a run batted in, while Jarrod Saltalamacchia drove in two runs for the Rangers, who fell for only the third time in their last 12 contests.

Sidney Ponson lasted 5 1/3 innings, surrendering six runs on seven hits and five walks. Franklyn German (1-1), though, was tagged with the loss and gave up two runs and three hits in just two-thirds of an inning.

Seattle, meanwhile, snapped a five-game losing streak on Sunday, as Raul Ibanez launched a monstrous go-ahead two-run homer to help the Mariners to a 6-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Safeco Field.

Ichiro Suzuki was 3-for-4 and scored twice, and Yuniesky Betancourt had a pair of hits and two RBI.

Mariners starter Miguel Batista (3-4) held on for the win despite lasting only 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on 10 hits and three walks. He struck out six, as the Mariners won for just the second time in their last 12 games.

Heading to the hill tonight for Seattle will be left-hander Erik Bedard, who has lost his last two starts, despite surrendering just three earned runs in 14 innings of those outings. Bedard was dealt a tough-luck loss on Wednesday against Padilla and the Rangers, as he yielded two runs and six hits in seven innings to fall to 2-2 on the year, while raising his ERA to 1.99.

Seattle has crossed the plate just once in Bedard's last two starts.

Bedard has faced the Rangers eight times in his career and is 4-2 with a 2.44 ERA.

Texas has won four of its seven meetings with the Mariners this year, but lost six of nine at home to them last season.