Rangers outlast Seattle, 6-4

NOT JUST JOSHIN' — Josh Hamilton (above) has been a bright spot for the Texas Rangers. He had 3 RBI last night in a 6-4 win over Seattle, and leads the majors with 121 on the season. ARLINGTON (AP) — Brandon McCarthy gave the Texas Rangers what they hope is a preview for 2009.

McCarthy pitched six strong innings for his first win in more than 13 months, Josh Hamilton drove in three runs and the Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 6-4 on Tuesday night.

Texas (68-72), well out of both the AL West Division race and the wild card race, face Seattle again today at 1 p.m., and following an off-day Thursday, the Rangers will host Boston in a series this weekend. The Rangers trail the L.A. Angels by 17 1/2 games in the AL West, and are almost that far behind Boston in the wild card race.

McCarthy (1-0) allowed two runs and four hits in his third start of the season. He struck out four without a walk in a 104-pitch outing.

The Rangers planned on having McCarthy as a mainstay of their rotation, but he went on the 60-day disabled list on March 30 with right forearm inflammation after pitching an inning in a spring training game. He didn't begin throwing in the bullpen until June 21.

"It's important," said McCarthy, whose last victory was on July 31, 2007 at Cleveland. "But I don't put any more importance on this September than other Septembers. I don't care what the situation is, I just want to pitch well."

Texas dealt top left-handed prospect John Danks to the Chicago White Sox for McCarthy in December 2006, but McCarthy's been able to make only 25 starts in two seasons with Texas because of injuries.

"He's a big part of our team," Rangers catcher Gerald Laird said. "We gave up a good prospect for him and I know he wants to produce. It's good to see him pitching so well."

Rangers manager Ron Washington said the next step for McCarthy is to be more efficient.

"He competes hard," Washington said. "Once he controls his pitch count, you'll see him go deeper in games."

Frank Francisco struck out the side in the ninth for his third save in nine chances. Texas had lost 10 of its previous 12 at home and four of five overall.

Hamilton, who increased his major leagueleading RBI total to 121, Laird and Milton Bradley all had three hits for Texas, while Hank Blalock had two RBIs to help the Rangers end the Mariners' season-best four-game winning streak.

And Seattle starter Ryan Feierabend (0-2) gave up five runs and 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings.

"Ryan threw the ball pretty good," Mariners manager Jim Riggleman said. "It's a tough lineup and he battled and did a good job. He made a lot of good pitches and kept us in the game. He probably doesn't feel it was his best game but he gave his team a chance to win."

Notes: The Rangers extended their minorleague agreement with Class-A Spokane. ... The crowd of 14,521 was the smallest of the season at Texas. The previous low was 14,563 on May 1 against Kansas City.