Paxton spins 4-K frame in uneven outing

SEATTLE — Mariners southpaw James Paxton struck out four batters in the first inning of his start Tuesday against the Rangers at Safeco Field, thanks to a wild pitch that got away from catcher Mike Zunino on one of his whiffs.

But that long inning was a foreshadowing of trouble ahead as Paxton wound up with eight strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings, but gave up nine hits and six runs (four earned) and was the losing pitcher as Seattle came up short, 10-7, against their American League West-leading rival.

“I threw some good pitches and got the strikeouts obviously, and that was good,” Paxton said. “But I just fell behind some guys and came to the middle part of the zone and they got some hits. I need to get ahead of guys and be able to make pitches when I’m ahead instead of having to come over the plate to those guys when I’m behind.”

Paxton became the fourth pitcher in Mariners history with a four-strikeout frame and the first since Felix Hernandez on June 3, 2010 against the Twins. Matt Young pulled off a 4-K inning in 1990 against at Boston and closer Kazuhiro Sasaki did the same in ’03 at Texas.

But when the Rangers were able to make …

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