Cal Raleigh hit his major-league-leading 42nd home run of the season and George Kirby pitched six strong innings as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Texas Rangers 6-0 Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series.Rookie Cole Young hit a solo shot and a run-scoring triple for the Mariners, who broke a second-place tie with Texas for second place in the American League West. Seattle sits 4 1/2 games behind the first-place Houston Astros.Kirby (6-5) continued his mastery of the Rangers by allowing just three hits — a single by former teammate Rowdy Tellez in the third and a pair of two-out hits in the sixth, a single by Corey Seager and a double by Marcus Semien into the gap in left-center field.Kirby, who walked two and struck out six, got out of the latter jam by inducing a flyout to center from Adolis Garcia.In 10 career starts against Texas, Kirby is 8-0 with a 1.04 ERA.The Mariners broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning after Eugenio Suarez, who received a standing ovation in his return to Seattle after being acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks, grounded a one-out double down the third base line. Suarez took third on a flyout to deep center by Jorge Polanco and scored on a wild pitch from Kumar Rocker (4-5).
