Mariners @ Rangers : 0 - 2

John Rheinecker got his first-game jitters out of the way in April. His second major league start went a lot smoother. Rheinecker allowed four hits in 8 1-3 innings and Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer to lead the Texas Rangers to a 2-0 victory over Seattle on Monday night, the Mariners' fifth straight loss. Rheinecker (1-0), who was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma earlier Monday, struck out six, walked one and had 13 groundball outs. The left-hander made his major league debut on April 22 -- two runs and seven hits in four innings in a no-decision against Tampa Bay -- and was 2-1 with a 3.26 ERA in nine starts for Oklahoma.

Seattle Mariners left fielder Raul Ibanez leaps to catch a fly ball hit by Texas Rangers' Mark DeRosa in the fifth inning of their baseball game, Monday, May 29, 2006, in Arlington, Texas.

Seattle, shut out for a major league-high seventh time this season, got one runner as far as third base and that was in the ninth inning. Rheinecker was acquired by the Rangers from the Oakland Athletics on March 31 in a three-way trade that also brought left-hander John Koronka to Texas from the Chicago Cubs. The Mariners, hitting .220 against left-handers, could only manage four singles against Rheinecker. Rheinecker hit Ichiro Suzuki leading off the ninth, then gave up a one-out single to Raul Ibanez and was lifted for Rick Bauer, who got two outs for his first save of the season and second of his career. Showalter wanted to give Rheinecker a shot at a complete game, but the rookie had already thrown 110 pitches.

Seattle is 5-14 in games started by opposing left-handers, and manager Mike Hargrove has no easy solution for that disparity. Seattle's Richie Sexson said Rheinecker had command of four pitches. Teixeira broke up the scoreless game in the sixth off starter Jarrod Washburn (3-6) with his sixth homer, driving in Gary Matthews Jr., who had singled with one out. Washburn allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings, struck out five and didn't issue a walk. He said he made one mistake, leaving a changeup over the plate to Teixeira. Teixeira felt that as well as the rookie was pitching, his home run would be enough offense for the Rangers. The Rangers had three singles in the first five innings -- one each by Matthews, Michael Young and Teixeira.