Servais: Diaz was right man for situation

ARLINGTON — For Scott Servais, the decision was clear. After needing three relievers to get three outs and giving up two runs in the seventh, he brought in 22-year-old rookie closer Edwin Diaz for the final two innings after his team regained a one-run lead in the top of the eighth Tuesday at Globe Life Park.

Diaz had notched 11 straight saves since being promoted to the closer’s role at the start of August, and he hadn’t pitched in the previous three games. But after escaping trouble with two walks in the eighth, the youngster gave up a ninth-inning leadoff single to Adrian Beltre and then a walk-off blast by Rougned Odor as the Mariners dropped an 8-7 heartbreaker to the Rangers, their seventh loss in the past eight games.

“We’re going for it,” Servais said of his decision to push Diaz even after he needed 24 pitches in the eighth. “Where we’re at in the season, we’re in a tough stretch playing really good teams. With the way our team battled tonight, I wanted to have our best guy, our hottest guy, on the mound there at the end. We did, it just didn’t work out.”

Diaz, who converted from a starting role in midseason in Double-A Jackson, said fatigue wasn’t an …

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