ARLINGTON, Texas — Corey Seager homered for the eighth time in eight games, Dane Dunning threw five scoreless innings and the Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1 on Wednesday to sweep a two-game rematch of last year's World Series.
The Diamondbacks intentionally walked Seager with two outs and an open base in the third after the Rangers had taken a 1-0 lead on Jonah Heim’s RBI double. When Seager came up with a runner on and two outs in the fifth, the World Series MVP lined the first pitch he saw into the right-field seats to make it 4-0.
That was pretty much a replay of the series opener Tuesday night, when Seager was given a free pass with two outs in the third, then hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth for the final runs in a 4-2 victory.
Reigning World Series champion Texas (27-29) won its third game in a row since losing five consecutive series. The Diamondbacks (25-30) have lost seven of their last 11 games.
Texas played its first game in more than two years without Marcus Semien in the lineup. The leadoff-hitting second basemen ended his streak of 349 consecutive games since May 13, 2022, after playing banged up and still sore from an outfield collision May 18 with right fielder Adolis García.
Dunning (4-3), in his second start back from being on the injured list with a right rotator cuff strain, struck out six. He walked four and allowed three hits, and got out of a bases-loaded jam in the third on an inning-ending fielder’s choice grounder by Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Kirby Yates, the fifth Texas reliever, came on to get the final out after Arizona had scored its only run and had runners on the corners in the ninth.
Diamondbacks starter Ryne Nelson (3-4) gave up the long ball to Seager. The right-hander struck out three, walked three while giving up four runs and five hits over six innings.
Seager has 13 homers overall, with four in the past three games. He went deep twice in a series finale victory at Minnesota on Sunday, which ended the Rangers' season-worst six-game losing streak and came a day after he didn’t homer for the only time since May 19. The shortstop is hitting .260 and has 29 RBIs in his 51 games this season.
The only other players in Rangers history with at least eight homers in an eight-game span were José Canseco, Rafael Palmeiro, Josh Hamilton and Joey Gallo.
Texas has gone deep in an MLB-high 13 games in a row, with 19 homers in that span. Seager has nine of those, including one in the May 14 game against Cleveland that started that team streak.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: SS Geraldo Perdomo, who played only seven games this season before surgery April 8 on his right meniscus, is getting close to starting a rehab assignment. Manager Torey Lovullo said Perdomo just needs to run the bases pain-free before doing that.
Rangers: 3B Josh Jung (fractured right wrist) began swinging off a tee with a lighter bat after being examined in Arizona this week. He got hit by a pitch April 1 in the fourth game of the season.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Zac Gallen (5-4, 3.12 ERA) pitches in the opener of a four-game series at the New York Mets on Thursday night.
Rangers: After a day off, RHP José Ureña (1-4, 3.53 ERA) starts the series opener Friday night at Miami. Ureña began his big league career with the Marlins from 2015-20, and they are the only big-league team he hasn't faced in a game.
