ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) \u2014 Otto Lopez got three hits, drove in a run and scored another as the Miami Marlins won their sixth game in a row, 4-2 over the Texas Rangers on Sunday in a matchup of teams unlikely to make the playoffs but still mathematically alive with six games left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wyatt Langford hit his 22nd homer for Texas (79-77), whose seven-game losing streak is its longest this season. The Rangers are five games behind Houston (84-72) and Cleveland, who are tied for the final American League wild card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Astros, who hold the tiebreaker over Texas, were swept this weekend by Seattle after the AL West-leading Mariners finished the series with a\u00a07-3 win Sunday night. Before that, Houston had\u00a0swept three games against the Rangers, who finish the regular season next weekend in Cleveland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Miami (76-80) went ahead to stay in the fourth when\u00a0Lopez had an RBI double\u00a0and scored on a single by Heriberto Hern\u00e1ndez off Merrill Kelly (12-9). Back-to-back doubles by Jakob Marsee and Agust\u00edn Ram\u00edrez made it 3-0 in the fifth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\u00a0Marlins were four games behind\u00a0the New York Mets (80-76) and Cincinnati, who were tied for the last National League wild card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lake Bachar (8-2) worked two innings for the win after taking over for 22-year-old starter Eury P\u00e9rez, who set a season high by striking out nine in four scoreless innings. P\u00e9rez allowed two hits and walked one while throwing 88 pitches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
George Soriano worked the ninth for his first save.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Texas scored twice in the sixth to pull to 3-2, Graham Pauley led off the Marlins seventh with a\u00a0triple to deep center field\u00a0and No. 9 batter Brian Navarreto followed with a sacrifice fly to the same area for a 4-2 lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Miami has won 10 of its last 11 games and its 76 total wins are already 14 more than last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both teams get a day off before playing Tuesday night, when Miami is at NL East champion Philadelphia, and Texas hosts Minnesota.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"