ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers' Friday started with a 3 p.m. meeting, described as emotional, during which Ron Washington announced his resignation as team manager.
Then the business of baseball continued on the field in the evening, and the Rangers were beaten 7-5 by the playoff-contending Seattle Mariners.
Scott Baker lasted just 4⅓ innings, during which he gave up three home runs: a two-run shot to Kendrys Morales in the second inning before a solo shot to Mike Zunino and a two-run blast from Brad Miller in the fifth.
It was a difficult debut for interim manager Tim Bogar, but the Rangers (53-88) had been struggling with Washington running the show.
The club has lost seven consecutive games and has yet to win in September.
What happened? Do you really want to know? Really? OK, Kyle Seager drew a leadoff walk in the second and Morales homered into the right-field seats for a 2-0 lead.
The Rangers cut the deficit to one in the fourth on Rougned Odor's RBI single. Pitching coach Mike Maddux wanted to see a shutdown inning from Baker and he didn’t get it. With one out, Zunino homered to right-center and, after a single and stolen base from Endy Chavez, Miller homered to push the lead to 5-1.
Bogar replaced Baker with Shawn Tolleson.
The Rangers were down 7-2 when Adam Rosales' fourth home run of the season cut the deficit to three in the sixth. Leonys Martin scored on a wild pitch in the ninth to make things interesting for Seattle closer Fernando Rodney.
Interim status: Bogar becomes the fifth interim manager in club history. Del Wilber (1973), Connie Ryan (1977), Toby Harrah (1992) and Jerry Narron (2001) were the others. With Bogar the interim manager, Bobby Jones takes over as the bench coach.
First challenge: Bogar challenged a 6-4-3 double play in the eighth when it appeared Michael Choice was safe at first, but a review confirmed the umpires' call. The Rangers are 18-for-36 on challenges this season.
Rios out: Right fielder Alex Rios, who has been dealing with a swollen right thumb the past few weeks, has developed an infection. Team officials said he’ll miss at least a week. Rios, who has underachieved this season, is hitting just .184 in the past 28 games.
Minor league success: Myrtle Beach defeated Salem 5-0 on Friday night to advance to the championship series of the Carolina League, winning the best-of-three Southern Division series 2-1. Royce Bolinger drove in two runs and Chad James struck out seven over 5⅔ innings for the victory. Myrtle Beach will host Potomac in Game 1 of the best-of-five championship series beginning Saturday.
What’s next? Nick Martinez (3-10, 5.14 ERA) takes on fellow right-hander Chris Young (12-7, 3.46), a Highland Park, Texas, native, in a scheduled 7:05 p.m. start Saturday.