Marcus Semien hit a two-run go-ahead home run in the bottom of the seventh to lead the Texas Rangers to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.
The 422-foot drive deep into the bleachers in left off reliever Kevin Kelly (2-1) was Semien’s first home run since June 9 and ended a 3-for-44 slump. Leody Taveras went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Corey Seager extended his hitting streak to 11 games with two hits for Texas, which won its second straight game.
Jonathan Hernandez (2-0) celebrated his 28th birthday by picking up the win with one out of relief and Kirby Yates pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his 13th save. Rangers starter Andrew Heaney threw 5 1/3 shutout innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out seven, including the 1,000th strikeout of his career.
Yandy Diaz went 3-for-3 with a home run, a double, a walk and three RBIs for Tampa Bay. Randy Arozarena doubled and had two hits as the Rays lost for the third time in four games.
Texas took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Jonah Heim singled, advanced to second on a Taveras walk and scored on a ground-ball single to center by Andrew Knizner.
The Rangers extended their lead to 2-0 in the third when Semien led off with a walk and advanced to second on a single by Seager. After both runners moved up on a passed ball, Semien scored on a single by Nathaniel Lowe.
Tampa Bay took a 3-2 lead in the seventh when Diaz drilled his eighth home run of the season, a 373-foot shot to left off reliever Jacob Latz, driving in Jonny DeLuca and Taylor Walls, who had both singled.
But Texas regained the lead for good in the bottom half of the inning on Semien’s 12th homer two batters after Taveras’s leadoff single.
–Field Level Media
