(SportsNetwork.com) - One has to wonder if the Seattle Mariners would be challenging for the American League West title if James Paxton had stayed healthy all season.

The 25-year-old hurler goes after a third straight victory on Sunday afternoon as the Mariners aim for a four-game sweep of the Rangers.

Paxton debuted in the majors with four starts last season, going 3-0 with a 1.50 earned run average. He won his first two starts of this year, giving up three runs over 12 innings, but was then shelved for nearly four months because of a strained back muscle.

The left-hander has been solid in six starts since returning and faced the Rangers for the first time on Aug. 26. Paxton picked up a 5-0 victory on that day, hurling 6 2/3 scoreless innings.

He followed up with a 6-5 win at Oakland on Tuesday, scattering two runs on four hits and three walks over a season-high 7 2/3 innings. That moved Paxton to 5-1 on the year with a 1.91 ERA.

"This young man's got greatness written all over him," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said of Paxton.

Derek Holland has also seen most of his season lost to injury and the Rangers lefty makes his second start of the campaign today.

Holland did not make his season debut until Tuesday due to knee surgery, but was sharp in his return to action. He faced Kansas City and did not factor into a 2-1 loss, giving up one run over seven innings. Holland scattered six hits and struck out six without a walk.

The 27-year-old is 8-2 in his career versus Seattle, posting a 3.18 ERA over 17 games with 13 starts.

Seattle has won five of its past seven versus Texas to even the season series at 9-9 and Saturday's 4-2 victory put the Mariners in position for their first four-game sweep in Texas since April 12-15, 2002.

It was a long night for the two clubs as the start was delayed by three hours and 13 minutes due to rain. However, when all was said and done, the Mariners rallied from an early 2-0 hole, with Kendrys Morales knocking in the go-ahead run during a two-run eighth inning.

Kyle Seager blasted a two-run homer for Seattle, which has won five straight and is 1 1/2 games up on Detroit for the AL's second wild-card spot.

"It's worth the wait for a lot of different reasons," said McClendon. "Obviously a doubleheader tomorrow would not have been good for us. And we won, so it's a good day."

The Rangers suffered their eighth consecutive loss, getting an RBI from Ryan Rua and Michael Choice.