The Texas bats came to life in the late innings of the Rangers’ Friday night win against the Athletics, and those sticks remained hot on May 28 as the team combined for 18 hits in an 11-4 victory in Oakland.
“It’s been fun to watch the at-bat quality,” Rangers Skipper Chris Woodward told MLB.com.
One of those 18 hits was a grand slam in the fifth inning for Marcus Semien. It took Semien, signed in free agency this past offseason, 44 games to get his first long-ball of the season.
“Home runs come from our ability to be disciplined and be aggressive in our areas. I think just at-bat after at-bat after at-bat.” Woodard said. “We’re having a lot more continuous innings where it’s like one after another after another. When we have that going, we’re tough to pitch because we just don’t give in at all.”
Semien, who grew up in the Oakland, California area, said he did not think his first homer of the season would leave the field.
“When I hit it, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s probably gonna get caught,'” Semien said. “But it carried out. Sometimes with day games here, when you hit it right, it carries. Of course, a grand slam is great. The first with a new team, a good swing to help us win, I’ll take it.”
Semien’s bases-clearing shot in the sixth capped the Rangers’ offense on the day on the way to the 11-4 win that pushed Texas to a record of 22-23, just six games behind first-place Houston. The win was the team’s fourth in a row.
Texas scored four in the top of the third inning, which was highlighted by a two-run homer from Corey Seager, his ninth this season.
A total of seven Rangers batters earned multiple hits in the game, with Seager, Kole Calhoun, and Andy Ibáñez each collecting three. Adolis GarcÃa also hit his seventh homer of the year in the win.
Texas sent 27-year-old lefty Taylor Hearn to the mound for the start, and the Royce City, Texas, native gave up eight hits, two earned runs, walked one, and struck out five for his third win of the year, 3-3.
Texas used three relievers out of the bullpen following Hearn’s seventh-inning departure. Brad Martin, Albert Abreau, and Garrett Richard combined for three innings, allowing one run on two hits, walking one, and striking out three.
Texas will look for the four-game sweep of the A’s on Sunday, May 29, starting at 3:07 p.m. CDT. Probable starters for the tilt are Dane Dunning (1-3, 4.32) for the Rangers and James Kaprielian (0-2, 5.48) for Oakland.
