ARLINGTON, Texas (Interstat) — The Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers meet Friday night at Globe Life Park in a pivotal AL West matchup, with both teams hovering near .500. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. CDT. Seattle (51-52) arrives having lost two straight, including a 5-3 defeat to Cincinnati on Wednesday. The Mariners slipped 1 1/2 games behind the Rangers for fourth place in the division. Texas (51-51) dropped a 4-2 decision to the Chicago White Sox in its most recent outing Wednesday, falling back to .500. Right-hander Emerson Hancock is a player to watch for Seattle. He took the loss against Cincinnati on Wednesday despite a solid outing, allowing two earned runs on five hits over six innings with three strikeouts. Hancock previously tossed seven scoreless innings in a win over Toronto on July 5 and has surrendered two earned runs or fewer in three of his past four appearances. For Texas, left-hander Robby Ahlstrom has been effective in short relief. He threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts Wednesday against Chicago and has allowed no earned runs in five of his past six appearances. Over his last 11 games, Ahlstrom has yielded two earned runs in 8 1/3 innings. The Rangers have dominated the season series, winning five of six meetings. Texas swept a three-game set at home April 6-8 and took two of three in Seattle from April 17-19. The lone Mariners victory came in an 8-2 win Wednesday in that series. Texas’ offense has struggled during a 3-5 stretch, while Seattle has dropped four of five. Interstat’s game simulator projects a 5-4 Rangers victory. Seattle is a -1.5 favorite on the run line, with an over/under of 7.5. The four-game series continues through Monday before Seattle visits the Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas travels to Tampa Bay.