SEATTLE, April 12 (UPI) -- Chan Ho Park survived five shaky innings and Rafael Palmeiro hit his fourth homer of the season Friday night as the Texas Rangers posted a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
Texas notched a second straight victory for the first time this season despite the travails of Park (1-2). The Korean righthander yielded one run and three hits and issued seven walks, including five in the first two innings.
Seattle left the bases loaded in the first and second innings, failing to score on both occasions. Park had a bizarre second inning, striking out the side, including Randy Winn and Bret Boone to end the inning.
Palmeiro hit his 494th career home run, a two-run blast off Mariners starter Freddy Garcia (1-2), in the fifth inning to open up a 4-1 lead for Texas. It moved Palmeiro into 19th place on the all-time list, one ahead of Lou Gehrig.
Texas closer Ugueth Urbina recorded his fourth save in as many chances by retiring the final three hitters in the ninth inning after a leadoff walk to John Olerud.
Seattle stranded 14 runners, including 10 in the five innings against Park. The Mariners walked a total of 11 times, but only one of them came home.
Ichiro Suzuki and Winn walked to open the first inning before Park retired Boone and Olerud. Mike Cameron walked to fill the bases before Mark McLemore flied out to end the threat.
After Jeff Cirillo took a called third strike to begin the second, Park issued walks to Carlos Guillen and Suzuki around a single by Dan Wilson. He recovered to get Winn and Boone.
Garcia allowed just a pair of hits in the first three innings before former Mariner Alex Rodriguez and Palmeiro opened the fourth inning with singles. Rodriguez scored on a wild pitch by Garcia and a two-out infield hit by Carl Everett made it 2-0.
Park ran into more trouble in the fourth inning despite getting the first two hitters. Winn walked with two outs and went to second on a balk. Boone was hit by a pitch and Olerud's RBI single sliced the deficit to 2-1.
But Rodriguez walked with two outs in the fifth inning, setting up Palmeiro's key at-bat. Palmeiro connected off a 2-1 delivery deep into center field for a three-run cushion.
