Wakamatsu at the helm http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-paul-konerko-jersey , and did so emphatically, trouncing the Seattle Mariners 8-3 on Friday in the opening game of Rangers’ final three-game home series.The game was called in the top of the seventh inning after an hour of torrential rain, lightning and flooding.Maybe Wakamatsu, who had been Texas’ bench coach, apparently made that much of a difference. Or perhaps the Rangers were just due after losing four straight games and 16 of their past 22. The Rangers had been shut out in their previous two games.Article continues below ...Whatever it was, Texas hopes it can bottle it and carry it along for its final nine games, beginning Saturday in the middle game of the series against the Mariners at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas.The Mariners will send left-hander Marco Gonzales (12-9, 4.28 ERA) to the mound to try to even the series while Texas will counter with left-hander Mike Minor (12-7, 4.14).Wakamatsu took over the Rangers’ reins when Jeff Banister was dismissed earlier Friday after four seasons and two division championships in Arlington. Banister was American League manager of the year in 2015.Wakamatsu, who managed in Seattle in 2009-10 before being fired, said before Friday’s game that he wants to be considered for the full-time managerial position.“It’s an emotional time for me,” Wakamatsu said of Banister’s dismissal and his chance to take over the job, be it for just the rest of the season or beyond. “Banny approached me this winter about coming on the staff, so still trying to process a lot of that right now and just really focus on the next 10 days and see how we can finish strong.“I came back here because of Banny. I came back here because of (Texas general manager) Jon Daniels, and some of the relationships and comfort level I felt with coming back home.”Meanwhile, in the opposing dugout, the Mariners’ Felix Hernandez Reynaldo Lopez Jersey , who has been sidelined since Sept. 8 with a tight right hamstring, rejoined the team and played flat-ground catch on Friday.He’ll throw a bullpen session on Saturday to see whether he can manage to get in a final start this season next week at home.“One more outing, a productive outing, would be good to see,” said Seattle manager Scott Servais, whose team has fallen out of contention for a postseason berth. “He wants to pitch again, no question about it. That’s why he’s here. If that wasn’t the case, he’d probably shut it down.“He’s had a lot of innings, no doubt,” Servais added about Hernandez. “He just wants to feel healthy and feel good about going into the next year. But he wants to get back out there.”The 26-year-old Gonzales will make his 28th start of the 2018 season on Saturday after recording a no-decision in his most recent start, a 4-3 Mariners loss to the Angels in Anaheim on Sunday. He gave up three runs and six hits in five innings.Gonzales will be making his fourth career start against the Rangers, and he has a 2-1 record with a 5.40 ERA in the first three. Two of those starts came this season, and Gonzales went 1-1 with a 5.40 in those.Minor will make his 28th start of the season on Saturday night. He leads Texas with 12 wins and his next win will match his career high, achieved in 2013 when he was with Atlanta. He will be working on five days’ rest after taking a no-decision in the Rangers’ 7-3 loss on Sunday at San Diego. He allowed four hits and two runs over 6 1/3 innings in that game.Minor has gone 1-2, with a 4.74 ERA in seven games, four of them starts, in his career versus Seattle, including 0-1 and a 7.24 ERA in three starts this season. TORONTO (AP) — Carlos Carrasco pitched a gem Bruce Rondon Jersey , and AL MVP contender Jose Ramirez came to the plate at the perfect moment.And still the Cleveland Indians couldn’t turn it into a victory.Kevin Pillar hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 11th after Ramirez grounded out with the bases loaded in the top of the inning, allowing the Toronto Blue Jays to beat the Indians 3-2 on Friday night.Pillar’s second career walkoff home run came off right-hander Adam Cimber (3-6). It was Pillar’s 12th homer of the season.The loss was Cimber’s first with Cleveland following a midseason trade from San Diego.“I thought the slider was the right pitch there,” Cimber said. “Just didn’t execute it and he smacked it.”The Blue Jays recorded their eighth walkoff win of the season, one more than they had last year. Toronto is 20-12 in one-run games.Cleveland dropped to 2-7 in extra innings. The Indians’ magic number to clinch a third straight AL Central title remains at seven.Carrasco matched a season best by striking out 14 over eight innings. The right-hander allowed two runs, one earned, and six hits.After establishing his fastball, Carrasco relied on his slider and changeup to keep the Blue Jays swinging and missing. He struck out four straight over the first and second innings and fanned a pair in six of his eight innings.“Even on 3-2, I was using my slider,” he said. “It was good.”Just not good enough for the Indians to triumph.“Anytime a guy pitches that well, you want to give him a win,” infielder Jason Kipnis said.Toronto won for the first time in franchise history when striking out at least 20 times.“There’s probably not a better slider in the game,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of Carrasco. “He attacks. If he’s on, there’s going to be some walking back to the dugout.”Yan Gomes hit a solo home run for the Indians.Pillar had reached third base with two outs in the ninth, but Neil Ramirez sent the game to extra innings by getting Richard Urena to fly out.Cleveland loaded the bases with two outs in the 11th, but Danny Barnes (3-2) relieved Jake Petricka and got Ramirez to ground out to second base.Ramirez opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single off Marco Estrada in the fifth, but the Blue Jays scored in the bottom half when Rowdy Tellez doubled and scored on Aledmys Diaz’s sacrifice fly.The Indians reclaimed the lead on a two-out homer by Gomes in the sixth, his 13th, but Toronto tied it again when Randal Grichuk and Tellez hit back-to-back doubles off Carrasco in the seventh.Tellez has six doubles in his first three games http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-paul-konerko-jersey , making him the first rookie since Joe DiMaggio in 1936 to have six doubles over any three-game stretch in his debut season.Toronto put runners at first and second with two outs in the eighth, but Carrasco ended his outing by getting Grichuk to ground into a fielder’s choice.Estrada allowed two runs and five hits in six innings.EXCLUSIVE COMPANYAstros teammates Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander are the only other pitchers to strike out 14 or more twice this season.SHAPIRO SPEAKSBlue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro touched on a number of subjects in a rare media availability several hours before the game. Shapiro denied a rift with team owner Rogers Communications and shot down a report linking him with the New York Mets.“This is where I want to be,” he said.Shapiro also responded to Thursday’s criticism from the MLB Player’s Association over the Blue Jays decision not to promote top prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr., viewed as a manipulation of the 19-year-old star’s service time.“I feel strongly that the best thing for Vladdy’s development is the path that we’ve laid out,” Shapiro said, adding that he welcomes “scrutiny” from the union. Guerrero was named Baseball America’s minor league player of the year Friday.YOUTH MOVEMENTRegarding the roster rebuild currently underway in Toronto, Shapiro said “there’s no longer any gray area about where we are,” adding that a return to competitiveness could be “a matter of two, three, four years, because that’s the amount of time it takes for players to transition to the major league level.”TRAINER’S ROOMIndians: 3B Josh Donaldson (left calf) went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a playoff game for Double-A Akron. … OF Michael Brantley (left foot) sat for a second straight day. … LHP Andrew Miller (left shoulder) will throw a side session Saturday.UP NEXTIndians RHP Adam Plutko (4-5, 5.04) faces Blue Jays RHP Sean Reid-Foley (1-2, 5.51) on Saturday afternoon. Plutko is winless in seven outings since a June 24 victory over Detroit. Reid-Foley allowed one run in seven innings to beat Miami for his first career win last Sunday, his third big league start.