Beltre helmet bit hilarious; Yu sits down M’s

ARLINGTON –Right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma got the first crack at the Rangers in the Mariners’ quest to hunt down the American League West leaders Monday night at Globe Life Park. But a four-run third inning cut his night short and he was outdueled by fellow Japanese righty Yu Darvish, who struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings, in a 6-3 win by the Rangers.

“I really hate when guys go out there and battle and fight and as an offense we don’t score any runs,” said Carlos Beltran, who hit a solo homer in the first. “So the fact that we scored some runs for him and he was able to continue to pitch a good game, that was fun to see.”

The Mariners have lost six of their last seven and dropped to third place in the AL West, due to a win from the Astros, but remain three games behind the Orioles for the second AL Wild Card spot. The Rangers maintained their 8 1/2-game first-place lead in the division with the Astros’ win.

Nomar Mazara got things started for the Rangers in the third with a run-scoring triple. Ian Desmond and Carlos Beltran followed with RBI doubles. Jonathan Lucroy finished the scoring with an RBI single as Iwakuma needed 40 pitches to finish the inning. Iwakuma did not return for the fourth, matching his shortest outing of the season and his season-high for runs allowed with five. Adrian Beltre scored the Rangers’ last run after he doubled, moved to third on a passed ball and came home on a Rougned Odor sacrifice fly.

• Beltre flips helmet to face Venditte

“Everything was up in the zone, fastball and breaking balls,” said Iwakuma, who has lost three in a row to fall to 14-10. “It’s hard to say [why]. I had a really good bullpen today. Everything was sharp. I just didn’t carry it over to the mound. It was hot, I admit. But it wasn’t like I had bad mechanics, it was just everything was up .”

Darvish was responsible for three runs in his 6 2/3 innings of work to pick up his third victory in his last four starts. He’s struck out eight-plus batters in four of his six August starts. He left the game with runners on second and third and pinch-hitter Franklin Gutierrez brought them both home with an RBI double off left-hander Jake Diekman. Adam Lind drove in the Mariners’ other run with a double in the fourth. Sam Dyson closed things out with his 30th save of the year.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDBeltran’s big night: Fresh off the worst hitless streak of his 19-year career, Beltran hit a solo homer to the upper deck in right field to get the Rangers on the board in the …

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