ARLINGTON -- When the Mariners woke up Saturday morning, they were prepared to go up against Max Scherzer for the second time in seven days. However, four hours before the first pitch, Seattle learned it was a familiar foe taking the mound in Dane Dunning.

The change didn’t affect the Mariners’ winning ways in 2024 against Texas. It was another day at the park for Seattle’s offense against the Rangers’ pitching staff, and they made the most of it in an 8-4 win at Globe Life Field.

It especially didn’t affect Julio Rodríguez, who took all of one pitch to spark the Mariners Saturday night. He lined a Dunning sinker toward the opposite field to put Seattle up 1-0 before most of the fans in Arlington could sit down.

Rodríguez, who went 4-for-6 with four RBIs on the night, continued his reign against the Rangers. In the past six games against Texas (ranging nine days), the Mariners’ center fielder has gone 14-for-28 with five home runs, three walks, a double and 14 RBIs.

"The last couple of weeks, [Rodríguez’s] been locked in against everyone,” shortstop J.P. Crawford said. “I don't think it's that specific team. He's going out there looking for blood each at-bat. It doesn't matter who we're facing.”

The Mariners gained another game on the Royals in the AL Wild Card race while keeping pace with the Tigers, who won at Baltimore. Seattle gained a half-game on the Twins, who were rained out at Boston. Seattle is 1 1/2 games back with seven remaining on the schedule.

"I think there's a good feeling going on here," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. "I think the guys are fighting together, and there's a lot of confidence going. They're doing the things that they need to do offensively."

Seattle added another first-inning run as Jorge Polanco drove in Randy Arozarena on the fourth hit of the inning to take an early 2-0 lead before leaving the bases loaded.

After the Mariners stranded two runners in the third, Josh Smith evened the game in the bottom half with a two-run home run off Emerson Hancock in the same area of right field where Rodríguez's first-inning homer landed.

Seattle cashed in with three runs in the sixth inning, when Rodríguez again went the opposite way, scoring Dylan Moore on a single before Cal Raleigh and Arozarena followed suit with run-scoring singles of their own to reclaim a 5-2 lead.

The Mariners' bullpen, however, fell into hot water in the bottom half, when Troy Taylor walked three and allowed an RBI single, the most baserunners he's allowed in an outing in his rookie season. Collin Snider came in to close out the sixth, but he walked in a run before Arozarena protected the 5-4 lead with a running catch near the left-field wall, tracking a 102.2 mph line drive by Marcus Semien and leaving the bases loaded.

"I didn't think it was going to go out of the ballpark, but it seemed like it was continuing to hook away from him,” Wilson said. "But he was able to run it down, get a good read and jump on it and track it down.”

The chances didn’t slow down for the Texas offense, but the Mariners bullpen held the Rangers scoreless in the final three frames to preserve the win.

Saturday was Hancock's second straight five-inning start in eight days against the Rangers. He allowed five hits and two runs and struck out three on 79 pitches.

"My role stays the same every time I get the ball; I want to give us a chance to win,” Hancock said. “I want to go out there and throw my best stuff in the zone, let my defense work behind me, and see where we can go from there.”