Corey Seager put Texas ahead before the first inning was two batters old and never let the lead leave the Rangers' hands for long. The shortstop finished 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and three RBIs Sunday at Chase Field, and Texas beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6 to take the series.
The Associated Press reported Seager's drive - his 18th of the season and his fourth in seven games - cleared the pool deck in right-center off Eduardo Rodriguez and scored Justin Foscue. Per ESPN's box score, Seager also singled home Danny Jansen in the sixth for his third RBI. ESPN's box matches that line.
Building a cushion Arizona could not erase
Rodriguez escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, the AP noted, but the fifth inning turned on Arizona errors. Foscue reached when Nolan Arenado's glove failed to clean a carom at third. Seager singled. Josh Jung singled home two, with another run scoring when left fielder Lars Nootbaar misplayed the ball. Brandon Nimmo's bloop RBI single made it 5-1.
In the sixth, Ezequiel Duran walked, Jansen doubled him home, and Seager's RBI single pushed Texas to 7-1. That six-run edge looked decisive until Arizona's late push.
The sequence mattered because it was Seager who kept appearing at the center of it - the first swing of the night, the fifth-inning single that loaded the table for Jung, and the sixth-inning knock that restored breathing room.
Holding on after Arenado's blast
Gabriel Moreno's solo homer in the fourth had been Arizona's first answer. Arenado's three-run shot in the seventh, after Cal Quantrill left with runners on, cut the deficit to 7-4. Jacob Latz entered the ninth with that lead, allowed doubles that scored two, then stranded the potential tying run at second when Moreno popped out to Seager, the AP reported. Latz converted his 29th save.
Quantrill (9-5) earned the win after six innings, five hits, two earned runs, no walks and four strikeouts. Rodriguez (15-6) took the loss after 5 1/3 innings and six runs, three earned.
