The San Diego Padres will look to keep their winning ways going Wednesday as they play the second of their three-game road series against the Colorado Rockies in Denver.

Manager Craig Stammen’s team won its third straight Tuesday night by blanking the Rockies 1-0. After entering April with a 1-4 mark, the Padres have lost just three times this month and have won 11 of their last 12 games. That streak included a four-game home sweep of the Rockies less than two weeks ago.

Veteran Walker Buehler (1-1, 4.58 ERA) will start on the mound for San Diego. The right-hander shut out the Rockies over six innings and allowed just three hits in a no-decision on April 10.

Last Thursday, he struck out seven Seattle Mariners batters and scattered five hits while allowing two earned runs in five-plus innings, earning his first win of the season in a 5-2 Padres victory.

Buehler, who pitched parts of seven seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is no stranger to Coors Field. Wednesday will mark his 11th start there. He holds a 3-1 record over 12 appearances in the Denver park, but that includes a 5.65 earned-run average.

Brenton Doyle may be the happiest Rockies batter to see Buehler on the mound. The center fielder, who is hitting just .209 this season and has just two hits in his last 14 at-bats, is 3-for-7 against Buehler with a home run.

What will help Stammen and the Padres is a well-rested bullpen backing up the veteran. San Diego had Monday off and needed only three pitchers in Tuesday’s win. Despite the closeness of Tuesday’s game, the Padres gave closer Mason Miller the night off after saving three games in four days last Thursday through Sunday.

The right-hander has pitched 11 1/3 scoreless innings in 11 games this season, with a 27-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

“Mason will be fine going forward, but we’ve got to take it easy on him,” the Padres skipper said. “We’ve used him a lot over the last week or so, and, you know, he’s not a robot.”

Colorado is expected to start Tomoyuki Sugano (1-1, 3.92). The Japanese righty, 36, is in his second major league season. He also started the April 10 game, his only appearance against the Padres in his brief MLB career. Sugano went six innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits and struck out three in a no-decision.

Last Friday, the Los Angeles Dodgers got to him for five runs on nine hits in just four innings in a 7-1 loss.

Tuesday was the first time the Rockies were shut out this season. While they averaged four runs a game through their first 23 games, they have not hit with a lot of pop. Manager Warren Schaeffer’s team mustered only three singles in 29 at-bats in Tuesday’s loss.

Still, Schaeffer is pleased with the progress the lineup has shown in the past week.

“The last game in Houston, when we started something new and pushing forward with it, it’s been great,” he said. “So, I think that we keep committing to that every single day. It’s a daily commitment to stay in the zone. I think that it’s going to be a really good year offensively.”

-Field Level Media

Shohei Ohtani hopes his second career start at San Francisco’s Oracle Park is a longer version of his first when the Los Angeles Dodgers seek to even their three-game series against the Giants on Wednesday night.

Landen Roupp outdueled Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a 3-1 Giants win in the series opener on Tuesday, a game in which San Francisco used six pitchers to limit the two-time defending World Series champions to one run and three hits.

While the focus was on the starting pitchers — as it will be again in the rematch — Giants manager Tony Vitello cited the four-inning role of relievers Ryan Borucki, Matt Gage, Erik Miller, Keaton Winn and Ryan Walker as being critical to Tuesday’s success in particular and a 7-5 response to a 3-8 start in general this season.

“The unit’s done great for us,” Vitello told reporters after the win. “Tonight is just a little bit of the epitome of it.

“I’m a big believer there’s a bit of a dance going on in a game and everything is connected. The starters have helped the relievers, and the relievers have helped the starters.”

Tyler Mahle (0-3, 7.23 ERA) has needed a lot of help in the first four games of his Giants career, failing to reach the sixth inning three times. The right-hander was bombed for eight runs on eight hits in four innings in his most recent start, an 8-3 loss at Cincinnati last Wednesday.

Mahle has gone 2-3 with a 3.72 ERA in seven career starts against the Dodgers.

Ohtani (2-0, 0.50) will be facing Giants hitters as a starter for just the fourth time in his career. He’s gone 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA in his three head-to-heads, two of which have been at home.

The only previous time he pitched at San Francisco came in his fifth start last season, when he worked three shutout innings in a 2-1 win. He struck out four and limited the hosts to one hit.

Ohtani has allowed a total of just seven hits and two runs (one earned) in his 18 innings this season, going six in each of his three starts. He has struck out 18 in those 18 innings.

The two-way threat has yet to help his cause offensively on nights he’s pitched this season. He went 1-for-6 with three walks and three strikeouts in his first two starts against Cleveland and Toronto before being held out of the batting order in his last outing against the New York Mets on April 15.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says Ohtani will help decide when he bats and when he doesn’t moving forward.

“It makes a lot of sense that if you’re … hitting while pitching, it takes a little bit of a toll,” Roberts said to reporters. “He certainly has managed it really well. But if it makes sense, I’ll have that conversation with him.”

Ohtani went just 1-for-4 with two strikeouts in Tuesday’s loss, but the hit — an infield single in his final plate appearance — allowed him to continue a historic run. He reached base for the 53rd straight game in which he’s batted bridging the 2025 and 2026 seasons, tying Shawn Green in 2000 for the second-longest streak by a Dodger in the Modern Era.

Duke Snider set the Modern Day franchise record of 58 in 1954 with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

–Field Level Media

Texas Rangers center fielder Evan Carter is off to a slow start at the plate, but the 23-year-old still is finding ways to impact the game with his glove.

Carter will look to build on his impressive defensive play when the Rangers continue their three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas.

Carter turned in the play of the game on Tuesday, when Texas posted a 5-1 win behind six strong innings from starter Kumar Rocker.

The Pirates trailed 2-1 before putting two runners on with two outs in the fifth inning. Rocker escaped unscathed after Carter soared high atop the center-field wall to rob Oneil Cruz of a three-run homer.

“That was a heck of a play in that moment,” Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly said. “It’s a huge swing there when you’re talking about three runs and being (down) 2-1 to being up 4-2.”

Carter is in the midst of a 3-for-23 slide at the plate, but he was able to admire his stellar catch after the game.

“It’s kind of crazy that (Cruz) can hit a ball so high that hard,” Carter said. “I’ve never (made a catch like) that before; that was really cool. I’m glad I caught it. Kumar did an incredible job, so I was glad I could back him up right there.”

Wednesday’s pitching matchup features a pair of right-handers, as the Rangers’ Jack Leiter (1-1, 4.87 ERA) faces Pittsburgh’s Braxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.38).

Leiter allowed three runs on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision against the Athletics last Thursday. The game was played amidst swirling winds in West Sacramento, Calif.

“That was not an easy game to play in,” Texas manager Skip Schumaker said. “I played in a lot of games at Wrigley Field with wind, and this was maybe the worst I’ve ever been around, playing wise, hitting, fielding, throws. It’s not easy.”

Leiter, 26, lost his lone career start against the Pirates on June 22, 2025, when he gave up three runs over four innings in an 8-3 defeat.

The Pirates will counter with Ashcraft, who received a no-decision after allowing five runs (two earned) and striking out seven batters over 5 2/3 innings against the Washington Nationals last Thursday.

Ashcraft, 26, has recorded 24 strikeouts over his last three starts (16 2/3 innings). He is making his second career appearance against Texas after allowing one run over two innings in relief on June 20, 2025.

The Pirates are monitoring the status of second baseman Brandon Lowe, who has missed the past two games with some left knee discomfort. Lowe is batting .267 with seven homers and 18 RBIs.

“We’re day-to-day right now,” Kelly said. “A little discomfort in his left knee. He’s feeling a lot better and trending in a positive direction.”

The Pirates also scratched first baseman Spencer Horwitz prior to Tuesday’s game with neck discomfort. Horwitz will be re-evaluated on Wednesday.

Texas left fielder Wyatt Langford exited Tuesday’s game in the fifth inning with right forearm tightness and was replaced by Ezequiel Duran. Langford will have an MRI on his forearm on Wednesday.

–Field Level Media

When left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez struck out the United States’ Byron Buxton with a two-strike changeup in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic, the Diamondbacks came to attention.

“I thought, ‘Well, we got it,'” said Arizona manager Torey Lovullo, who was texting with D-backs pitching coach Rick Kaplan during the game. “We’ve got to find that pitch for him.

“Make him keep throwing it.”

He has. Rodriguez (1-0, 1.96 ERA) gave up one hit in 4 1/3 scoreless innings to help Venezuela to the WBC title on March 17, and the changeup has become a greater part of his repertoire this season.

Rodriguez, who is 5-0 in his career against the Chicago White Sox, is to face Sox left-hander Anthony Kay (1-0, 2.60) in the second contest of a three-game series in Phoenix on Wednesday.

The White Sox clubbed four homers, including Munetaka Murakami’s ninth of the season and fourth in as many games, in an 11-5 victory Tuesday. They have 11 homers in the last three games and have won three of four.

“He makes the adjustments that he needs to,” White Sox manager Will Venable said of Murakami. “Obviously, he’s having a lot of success. We’re seeing really good plate discipline. Obviously, the power is incredible. He’s a guy that is getting more and more comfortable every day.”

Rodriguez’s unenviable task is to slow Murakami down.

Rodriguez has thrown the changeup about 34% of the time in his first four starts, almost double its usage rate that in his previous nine seasons, according to Fangraphs. He also has thrown more curveballs, a pitch he developed last season, while cutting back on the fastball.

“It’s not really the changeup,” Rodriguez said. “It’s how I get to the changeup. Sometimes I use it more because that’s what the games tells me to do. It’s more about executing all the pitches. It’s about the mix.”

Rodriguez did not give up an earned run in his first two starts and won his third outing before receiving a no-decision the last time out, when he gave up a season-high four runs in five innings of an 8-5, 10-inning Arizona victory at Baltimore.

“The pitch for me that’s making a big difference is the changeup,” Lovullo said. “He came back with an eagerness to throw it. He’s getting a lot of real good weak contact or swing and miss.

“He’s got a great feel for the baseball. Better than anybody I’ve seen, he and Merrill (Kelly) can throw it where they want to and at the speed they are looking for. The change has allowed him to be a pitcher.”

Rodriguez last faced the White Sox on June 23, 2025, when he threw six scoreless innings and struck out 10 in a 10-0 victory. It was his 11th career start against them.

Kay picked up his only victory of the season with 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 2-0 decision at Kansas City on April 9, his second start.

The win broke the White Sox’s three-game losing streak and an even longer streak for Kay, whose last major league victory was June 24, 2021, when he threw five scoreless innings in Toronto’s 5-0 decision over Baltimore.

Kay spent the 2024-25 seasons with Yokohama of the Japan’s Central League.

Like Rodriguez, Kay uses a changeup in a fastball-slider mix.

“The story for him is really the off-speed stuff in the zone,” Venable said.

–Field Level Media

James Wood looks to continue his strong start to 2026 when the Washington Nationals host the Atlanta Braves in the third contest of their four-game series on Wednesday night.

In Tuesday’s 11-4 win, Wood smacked a solo homer, walked four times and scored three runs as Washington collected 10 hits and 12 walks.

“I feel like one through nine, everyone was having good at-bats,” Wood said. “Pitching staff did great. (Starter) Foster (Griffin) was great today.”

Wood leads the National League with 21 walks, is tied for the lead with eight home runs and is second with 23 runs scored.

Atlanta recalled 20-year-old Didier Fuentes (0-0, 2.25 ERA) from Triple-A Gwinnett to start against fellow right-hander Zack Littell (0-2, 7.11) on Wednesday.

Left-hander Martin Perez was originally slated to start for the Braves but was pushed back to Thursday. Atlanta designated right-hander Ian Hamilton for assignment to make room for Fuentes, who has never faced Washington.

Littell has not enjoyed much success of late. He lasted just four innings in his last start — a loss to the San Francisco Giants, allowing eight runs on 11 hits.

He is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA in 10 games (one start) against the Braves.

Luis Garcia Jr. had a four-hit night, his first of the season, for the Nationals on Tuesday. He finished 4-for-5 with a double, a run scored and three RBIs.

After scoring three runs against Reynaldo Lopez in the first inning Tuesday, the Nationals have scored 25 first-inning runs, the most in the majors.

“Obviously, Lopez is a really good pitcher,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said. “I know he didn’t have it tonight necessarily, but I think our hitters did a really good job of making him come to them and laying off some pitches outside of the zone.”

Drake Baldwin and Eli White homered, and Mauricio Dubon had two hits for Atlanta, which had won six straight. The Braves have only lost consecutive games once this season, a three-game skid April 4-6.

Baldwin has reached base safely in 23 of 24 games this season. He is tied for third in the majors with 22 RBIs.

Ronald Acuna Jr. played and went 1-for-5 one day after being hit by a pitch twice, including once on the left hand.

The Braves placed closer Raisel Iglesias on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. The move was retroactive to Monday.

“I’m not sure how long this is going to be,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “You just never know. But we’re certainly optimistic it’s going to be shorter than a long absence. All things are positive right now.”

In the meantime, Robert Suarez will serve as Atlanta’s closer. He led the N.L. with 40 saves last season for San Diego.

–Field Level Media

Owners of the longest current winning streak in the majors, the Chicago Cubs will look to continue their dominant starting pitching when they face the reeling Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night.

Chicago recorded its seventh straight win with a 7-4 decision Tuesday over Philadelphia, which has lost seven games in a row.

Since Chicago’s 13-7 loss to the Phillies on April 13, the Cubs’ starters have allowed an average of 1.6 runs per outing, helping manager Craig Counsell’s club post its longest winning streak since an eight-game run in July 2023.

“The starting pitching has been the key to this,” Counsell said. “When you’re getting that deep into a game with your starters and consistently going 6 2/3, seven innings, one run each night, you’re putting your team in a really good position. You’re not making the offense do everything.”

Shota Imanaga’s seven innings of one-run ball prolonged that trend on Tuesday, and fellow left-hander Matthew Boyd (1-1, 6.75 ERA) will get his chance in the third contest of a four-game set on Wednesday.

Boyd allowed eight runs in 9 2/3 innings in a pair of starts to open the year before serving a stint on the 15-day injured list due to a left bicep strain. Making his return after one start with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, Boyd is eager to continue the club’s momentum.

“It’s been good,” he said of his time away from the big-league club. “Obviously I would have loved to be up here that whole time, but we’ve used it to clean up some mechanical stuff. After that lingering soreness passed, we dove into the mechanics and continued to work down that path. Excited to go out there tomorrow and excited to compete and help our team get a win.”

Boyd, 35, has faced the Phillies twice in his career, compiling a 2.25 ERA in a pair of no-decisions.

Philadelphia, meanwhile, is riding its worst stretch in seven years. The franchise last lost seven straight games in June 2019. The Phillies’ four runs on Tuesday matched their most across the current slide.

Slugger Kyle Schwarber was one of Philadelphia’s lone bright spots in Tuesday’s loss, connecting on his eighth home run — tied for most in the National League.

Schwarber knows the team’s season is far from over in April, but halting the extended losing streak is a necessity.

“Obviously on both sides of the ball, we’re really struggling to find our stride,” said Schwarber, who’s hitting .217. “It’s our job to keep going out there, batting, working, figuring out what we have to do. … This isn’t the start that we wanted by any means, but we have to come in and focus on the controllables.”

Left-hander Kyle Backhus (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will serve as the opener and make the first start of his career in his 40th appearance in the majors. The 28-year-old faced the Cubs twice last week, allowing one run across 2 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

Juan Soto finally is coming back to the New York Mets on Wednesday.

The Mets can only hope he brings their offense with him.

Soto will look to give the sinking Mets a much-needed jolt Wednesday, when he is expected to be activated from the injured list before New York hosts the Minnesota Twins in the middle contest of a three-game interleague series.

Right-hander Clay Holmes (2-2, 1.96 ERA) is slated to pitch for the Mets against left-hander Connor Prielipp, who will be recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to make his big league debut.

The Mets’ losing streak hit 12 games following a 5-3 setback on Tuesday. Luke Keaschall had the game-tying RBI single in the seventh inning and the go-ahead RBI single in the ninth.

The losing streak is the longest for the Mets since a 12-game skid from Aug. 10-23, 2002. New York hasn’t dropped at least 13 straight since a 15-game losing streak from Aug. 15-31, 1982.

The Mets have scored just 22 runs during the losing streak — or five fewer runs than they scored in the first three-plus games without Soto, who strained his right calf running the bases in the first inning against the San Francisco Giants on April 3. The outfielder was placed on the 10-day injured list three days later.

Soto scored the first run of a 10-3 win before exiting. The Mets won their next three games by a combined margin of 18-5 before embarking upon the sixth-longest losing streak in franchise history.

Soto is batting .355 with a .928 OPS in 31 at-bats. The only Mets regular with a .250 average is Francisco Alvarez, who is hitting exactly .250. Alvarez (.824 OPS) and Luis Robert Jr. (.700 OPS) are the only everyday players with an OPS of .700 or better.

“I didn’t think we were going to have this hard a time scoring runs without him,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday night. “It’s hard to put a lot on Soto. But it’s going to be good to have him in the lineup tomorrow.”

The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Twins, who squandered leads in three of the defeats.

Offense was at a premium early Tuesday for the Twins, who fell behind when New York’s Francisco Lindor hit a three-run homer in the third and didn’t have a baserunner in the first five innings against Mets rookie right-hander Nolan McLean.

But Matt Wallner opened the sixth with a single for the Twins, who collected five hits — including Byron Buxton’s two-run homer in the sixth and Keaschall’s first RBI hit — in their final 10 at-bats against McLean before he exited with two outs in the seventh. Minnesota forced McLean to throw 36 pitches in the sixth and seventh after he threw just 63 pitches while recording the first 15 outs.

Three relievers closed out the game with four perfect innings for Minnesota, whose bullpen gave up 11 runs (eight earned) over 13 2/3 innings during the losing streak.

“We just kept battling, kept battling,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “That’s a heck of a win.”

Holmes took the loss in his most recent start April 15, when he gave up two runs over five innings as the Mets fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-2. He is 3-1 with a 1.76 ERA and three saves in 10 career games (one start) against the Twins.

Prielipp, whom the Twins selected in the second round of the 2022 draft, earned the promotion by going 1-0 with a 2.30 ERA and 22 strikeouts over 15 2/3 innings in four games (three starts) at St. Paul.

The 25-year-old is the Twins’ top pitching prospect per MLB Pipeline, and No. 94 overall per Baseball America.

–Field Level Media

The Milwaukee Brewers had their second-best offensive showing of the season on Tuesday.

The host Detroit Tigers will try to cool them off during the second contest of a three-game series on Wednesday night.

Milwaukee pounded out 16 hits in a 12-4 thumping of the Tigers in the series opener on Tuesday. That output included a seven-run eighth inning. Leadoff hitter Brice Turang led the way by driving in four runs.

The Brewers, who have won five of their past six games, reached double digits in runs for the second time. They scored 14 in their season opener against the Chicago White Sox last month.

Right-hander Casey Mize (1-1, 2.78 ERA) will make his fifth start of the season for Detroit on Wednesday. Mize finished 2025 with a 14-6 record in 28 starts and has been even more impressive this season — although his win-loss record doesn’t reflect that.

Mize allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings to Minnesota under miserable weather conditions on April 6. Otherwise, he has given up just two runs combined in his three other outings, spanning 18 1/3 innings.

His last effort was his best, as he limited Boston to three hits and one walk over 6 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out seven but got no offensive support as the Tigers lost in 10 innings, 1-0.

“I feel good,” Mize said. “I feel like I’ve had three good [starts] and one bad one. I feel fine, but we’ve got to translate them to wins. That’s what I care about the most.”

He’ll get his share of victories if he remains this effective.

“We had a good game plan,” Mize said. “I was able to execute at a pretty high clip (Friday). I felt like I was moving well and the ball was coming out well. When you execute, more times than not you are going to have nights like this.”

Mize was the top pick in the 2018 draft and, after some injury issues during his career, is pitching like an ace.

“Casey was incredible,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said about his most recent performance. “What I told him afterwards was that’s the best combo of stuff execution, the way his body’s moving, I mean, he was excellent.”

Mize has lost his only career start against Milwaukee, in 2024, giving up five runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Right-hander Chad Patrick (1-0, 0.95 ERA), Mize’s mound opponent on Wednesday, is coming off his best outing of the young season. He held Toronto to one run and three hits over 6 2/3 innings in his team’s 2-1 victory last Wednesday. He struck out only two, but that didn’t faze him.

“I think everything’s coming together,” he said. “I’m not going to do anything sexy out there. It’s here you go, hit it, swing and miss, do what you do. My job is to get weak contact and swings and misses, they come and they go.”

Patrick is more than capable of getting strikeouts. He had 127 in 119 2/3 innings last season as a rookie and recorded 11 in nine postseason innings.

“Anytime I face a lineup, it’s pretty aggressive,” Patrick said. “I feel like I’m a strike thrower. Anytime I’m facing a team, I think that’s the message over there.”

He’ll face the Tigers for the first time in his career.

–Field Level Media

Teams at opposite ends of the American League East standings will meet Wednesday when the visiting New York Yankees take on the Boston Red Sox in the second game of a three-game series.

The Yankees have a five-game lead over the last-place Red Sox following Tuesday night’s 4-0 victory. It was the first time the Red Sox failed to score against the Yankees since 2022, and the first time the Yankees shut out the Red Sox at Fenway Park since 2020.

Boston was limited to four hits in the loss, one of which was an infield single in the ninth inning. It was the fifth time the Red Sox have had four hits or fewer in a game this season.

“Willson (Contreras) in the first inning, Narvy (Carlos Narvaez), the line drive to right-center, but besides that I don’t think we hit the ball hard at all,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We swung a lot.

“It was fast in the middle innings for him, for Gil (Yankees starting pitcher Luis Gil). That’s it. We didn’t put pressure on him. He threw strikes, probably more than usual, but you still have to play the game and trust the fact that he’s not a strike thrower. We got some pitches to hit.”

Boston is averaging 3.87 runs per game this season.

Giancarlo Stanton was the offensive catalyst for the Yankees on Tuesday. He hit a solo home run, had a two-run double and also hit a ball hard to center field that was caught by Ceddanne Rafaela.

“Some really good at-bats by (Stanton) tonight,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “That last one might have been his hardest one where Rafaela made an unbelievable play on a cold night. … Just some really good at-bats obviously to get us going with kind of a G-esque moonshot and then a big, long at-bat where he gets to 3-2 and is able to get a big extra-base hit for us. Obviously the difference for us tonight.”

The Yankees will enter Wednesday’s matchup having won four in a row and five of their past six.

For his career, Stanton is hitting .318 with eight home runs and 27 RBIs in 40 games at Fenway Park.

“I grew up seeing this place on TV, seeing the rivalry on TV as a kid and you kind of want to be a part of that,” Stanton said. “It’s always a fun rivalry game no matter where each team is in the standings, and so it’s just a good experience. Pure baseball place to play and you gotta raise your game in those situations.”

Wednesday’s probable pitchers are a pair of left-handers:Ranger Suarez (1-1, 3.22 ERA) for Boston and Max Fried (2-1, 2.97) for New York. Suarez is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA in three career appearances (one start) against the Yankees. Fried is 3-1 with a 2.37 ERA in five career starts against the Red Sox.

New York’s Cody Bellinger extended his hitting streak to nine games with an eighth-inning single Tuesday.

–Field Level Media

The Athletics need only to look to the top of the third deck in right field at T-Mobile Park to realize the road to the American League West title goes through Seattle.

That’s where the Mariners’ 2025 division championship banner hangs.

“(The Mariners) were one game away from going to the World Series last year,” the Athletics’ Shea Langeliers said. “Last year, it kind of felt like a dogfight every time we played them. I don’t think it’s going to be any different this year. These early games in the season, you can look back later and realize how much they mean.”

Langeliers homered for a second consecutive night Tuesday, leading the A’s to a 5-2 victory as they remained a half-game ahead of the Texas Rangers atop the division race.

The Athletics will go for a sweep of their three-game series in Seattle on Wednesday afternoon.

Last season, the A’s went 6-7 against the Mariners, with 10 of those games decided by two runs or less.

This season’s series has started similarly, with the A’s winning 6-4 Monday. They scored an insurance run in the ninth Tuesday for the final three-run margin.

“If we want to beat anybody, we want to beat the Mariners,” A’s outfielder Lawrence Butler said. “So it felt really good beating them. … I wish (the stadium) was more packed out so more fans could go home sad.”

The Mariners’ Cal Raleigh also homered for a second straight night, but it wasn’t enough to prevent his team from losing for the sixth time in the past eight games.

Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez both went 2-for-3 and drew walks, showing signs of breaking out of their early season slumps.

“We had a lot of contact, but just not a lot to show for it,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “We’ve got to keep pushing, and keep getting that traffic on there and keep giving ourselves a chance. At some point, we’ll start to get those runs.”

Raleigh insisted it’s not for a lack of effort.

“Nobody’s ever gonna fault this team for not working hard and doing that stuff,” he said. “But just because you work hard, it doesn’t mean you get good results. So to me, it’s really about focusing in that two-minute stretch when you’re in the box. You want guys being competitive, being warriors in the box.

“It’s a fine balance, right? We all know that we want to be doing better than we are, but at the same time, it’s not going to help anybody in this room by trying to press and go out there and do more, try to be ‘the guy.’ It’s happened before to good clubs. It’s more under a microscope because it’s the beginning of the season. I have faith in this group.”

The series finale is set to feature a pair of right-handers in the Athletics’ Aaron Civale (2-1, 3.54 ERA) and Seattle’s Logan Gilbert (1-3, 4.03).

Civale is coming off a 9-2 loss to the visiting Chicago White Sox on Friday in West Sacramento, Calif., when he gave up five runs on 11 hits over 4 2/3 innings. He’s 2-3 with a 3.96 ERA in six career starts against Seattle.

Gilbert lost 5-0 Friday to visiting Texas, allowing two runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings, with one walk and seven strikeouts. In 14 career starts against the A’s, Gilbert is 4-1 with a 2.82 ERA.

–Field Level Media