SEATTLE (AP) -- Esteban German had not faced a pitch in a game

since being called up to the Rangers two weeks ago.

It took him just two pitches in his first at-bat to deliver

Texas a victory.

German hit a go-ahead RBI double against the left-field wall in

the 11th inning as the Rangers rallied to beat the Seattle Mariners

3-2 Tuesday night.

Mark Teixeira had reached on a one-out hard single off the glove

of second baseman Jose Lopez. German, who entered as a pinch runner

in the ninth, followed with a shot over the head of left fielder

Raul Ibanez on a 1-0 pitch from Julio Mateo (3-5). Teixeira easily

beat the relay to the plate.

"I was so excited about that," said German, who said he might

have had close to 1,000 batting practice swings this month to keep

him ready when called. "He threw me a fastball. I was waiting for

that pitch. I hit it good."

It was worth the wait. German got a fair amount of clubhouse

abuse from his teammates when the media swarmed around the

little-used infielder. He had appeared in just three previous

games, all as a pinch runner. It was his first big league hit since

Sept. 14, 2004, for Oakland -- against Texas.

Francisco Cordero retired Ichiro Suzuki on a grounder to first

with runners on first and third to end the game and earn his 36th

save. John Wasdin (3-2) got the final two outs of the 10th.

Seattle rookie Felix Hernandez was one out from his first major

league complete game when he allowed the Rangers to tie it at 2.

Kevin Mench, who had been in a 3-of-26 slide, hit a two-out single

to left to score German, who was running for Hank Blalock, from

second.

"You give up four hits in eight innings and have 95 pitches and

the lead, if I had the ball in my hand and throwing the ball the

way he was, I'd rather finish it off," Mariners manager Mike

Hargrove said of his reasons for letting Hernandez try to finish.

"I made the decision. I think it was the right decision for a

lot of reasons."

Hernandez allowed five hits, two runs, struck out seven and

walked four in his nine innings. After the first, he did not allow

a runner past first base until the ninth.

In his previous outing against Texas on Sept. 16, the Rangers

handed Hernandez the worst defeat of his young career. He was

knocked out after three innings, allowing eight hits and five runs

in a 5-3 loss.

"It was really important to me," Hernandez said. "It would

have been my first major league complete game. It didn't happen and

I'm upset that the team lost."

The Mariners still had the chance to get Hernandez the win in

the bottom of the inning. They loaded the bases with two outs, but

Brian Shouse struck out Jeremy Reed.

Texas shortstop Michael Young went 2-for-5 and extended his

hitting streak to a career-high 23 games, third-longest in Rangers

history. He has raised his average from .323 to a league-leading

.334 by hitting .398 (37-of-93) during the streak.

Young's two hits gave him a league-leading 217, breaking his own

club record of 216 set last season.

"I don't think anybody takes for granted how hard it is to do

what he's doing," Rangers manager Buck Showalter said. "He's

consistent in all walks of life. He loves to win, he loves to

compete, he loves to prepare."

Young said that his goal was not to beat his own records "but

to stay healthy and be consistent. This year I've been able to do

that."

Texas starter Kameron Loe, hit in the head by a line drive by

Vladimir Guerrero in his last outing, went 6 2/3 innings, allowing

six hits and two runs. He had two strikeouts and issued a

season-high five walks -- two of which were intentional to Suzuki.

Teixeira gave Texas 1-0 lead in the first with a run-scoring

groundout, his 139th RBI that extended his record for most RBI by

a switch-hitter in major league history.

The Mariners tied it in the fourth when Reed hit a ground-rule

double and scored on left fielder Jason Botts' error on Ibanez's

single.

Lopez, who had a career-high four hits, opened the Mariners'

fifth with a single and eventually scored on Reed's RBI groundout.Game notes
The Rangers, at 78-79, are trying to avoid their fifth

losing season in the past six years. ... Young's 23-game hit streak

is the longest for the Rangers since Gabe Kapler had a 28-game

streak in 2000. ... Suzuki, who is four hits from a fifth straight

200-hit season, was given three intentional walks and has 23 this

season. ... Showalter was ejected in the eighth inning by first

base umpire Tim Timmons for protesting a call.