Corey Seager hit his new career-high 32nd home run of the year at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Thursday night, capping a Rangers rally in the 5-3 win over the Angels to take the three-game set 2-1.
Seager stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth with the game tied 3-3. Jose Quijada, who had been brought in to pitch the inning, walked Marcus Semien ahead of Seager’s at-bat.
Quijada’s first offering, a four-seam fastball, was the same pitch he had thrown three straight times to walk Semien while Seager looked on from the on-deck circle. Seager fouled off the pitch to go down 0-1 in the count.
Quijada finally gave the fastball a break and threw his slider, nearly 13 mph slower than his heater, and the pitch was way out of the strike zone. Seagar let it float past him to even the count 1-1.
Back to the fastball went Quijada, and Seager drilled the 95.4 MPH pitch, bouncing the ball off the Lockheed Martin advertisement on the back wall of the visitor’s bullpen for a two-run homer and a 5-3 Rangers.
Jose Leclerc came on in the top of the ninth, looking to nail down the save. He struck out three of four batters – Shohei Ohtani would hit a double to keep the game within reach – with Mike Trout the last to be punched out.
The series win against the Angels is the first for Texas since beating Minnesota 3-1 in late August and the first series win in Arlington since beating AL West rivals Seattle 2-1 on August 14.
“It’s big for us to win this series,” Rangers Skipper Tony Beasley said. “Hopefully, we can let this momentum carry on to the next series.”
Rangers ace pitcher Martin Perez got the start against the Angels. Though he did not factor in the decision, he allowed three runs on five hits while walking three and fanning five in his six innings of work. Matt Moore recorded the win, pushing his record to 5-2 on the year after tossing a scoreless seventh.
“We had our best guy on the mound, and even though we got down 3-0, Martin did a great job of holding and giving us a chance to get back in the ball game,” said Beasley.
Perez recorded his 900th career strikeout in the game and thanked his wife for being a part of the achievement on his Instagram page.
“Thank you, my life, for all your unconditional support,” he wrote. “I love you; this achievement is also yours.”
Aside from the lead-off walk for Semien in the bottom of the eighth, the Texas second baseman was 2-for-3 in the win with the run and one RBI. Adolis Garcia and Nathanial Lowe each picked up one RBI.
The Rangers welcome Cleveland to town on Friday to start a three-game set with the Guardians.
Cleveland is the winner of eight of their last 10 and sports a seven-game lead in the AL Central over the Chicago White Sox. They will send Cody Morris (0-2, 2.30) to the mound against Texas, and Rangers righty Jon Gray (7-7, 3.80) will get the starting nod against the Guardians.
Friday night at the ballpark is also Mexican Heritage Jersey Night. The first 15,000 fans through the gate will receive a black version of the “TEJAS” pullover with the number 50 on the back, commemorating the Rangers’ 50 years.