ARLINGTON, Texas — Nobody would likely call a brief two-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks at the end of May a dire series for either side. However, for a Rangers’ team that has struggled to string together wins and get on a streak, the first World Series rematch against Arizona seemed like an ideal time to put some victories in the win column.
But even with the Diamondbacks mired in fourth place in the National League West, Texas has not had good luck in recent weeks against teams with losing records; thankfully, they were able to break that string of poor performance by putting on a repeat performance from the World Series.
- Game 55: Arizona 2, Texas 4 (W: Heaney, 1-6, L: Pfaadt, 2-4, Sv: Yates: 8)
- Game 56: Arizona 1, Texas 6 (W: Dunning, 4-3, L: Nelson, 3-4)
Sizzling Seager
The hot streak that Corey Seager is on is going to be hard to stop. Last year, two injuries took him out of action, and when he returned, it was like those injuries never happened. There were no rehab games, no easing him into it, just Seager hitting baseballs and driving in runs. With his three-run homer to put the Rangers up in the opener on Tuesday and a two-run homer on Wednesday, Seager has hit eight home runs in his last eight games.
Throughout those eight games, the reigning World Series MVP is slashing an absurd .360/.484/1.200. The average OPS in the Major Leagues right now is hovering around .700 – Seager is doing double that.
Normally, you could say that you wouldn’t expect this pace to last – but once Corey Seager gets on a hot streak, he tends to stay hot.
Getting the band back together
It’s a start – the Rangers welcomed back Nathan Eovaldi and Wyatt Langford to the active roster. Eovaldi, who landed on the IL at the start of the month with a groin strain, started the first game of the series. Without a rehab outing to build up his pitch count, the team kept their bulldog ace on a short leash.
Over three innings, Eovaldi gave up two runs on five hits while striking out a couple of Diamondbacks in his first look at them since he was the winning pitcher in the World Series clincher for Texas. Manager Bruce Bochy said that Eovaldi could have gone at least another inning, but a drawn out second frame drove his pitch count up and he ended the night at 37 pitches.
Langford, the rookie hitting prodigy and last year’s first-round draft pick, returned from a hamstring strain that also sidelined him at the start of the month. He was not as fortunate in his return to the DH spot, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout. The following day, though, Langford went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. With Evan Carter hitting the IL with a lower back injury, Langford’s production will be key to strengthening the lineup.
Almost pitch perfect
The pitching, as you might expect in a sweep, did its job against the Diamondbacks. Following a couple of runs scored in the second inning of Eovaldi’s re-introduction, the Rangers would go on to shut the Snakes out over the next 16 innings, not allowing another run to score until the ninth inning of Wednesday’s finale.
Andrew Heaney was able to finally pick up his first win of the season, albeit in relief, as he went 2 ⅓ innings after Eovaldi, giving up just two hits. It was reminiscent of how Bochy used the bullpen during the run in the playoffs last fall that concluded with Texas using some of their starters such as Heaney, Dane Dunning, and Jon Gray in relief.
True relievers Grant Anderson and David Robertson had nice bounce-back performances in the opener. In the second game, Dunning made his second start since returning from injury and went five shutout innings while allowing just three hits (although, he did walk four). Jose Leclerc, Jesus Tinoco, Robertson and Kirby Yates all had scoreless outings. Jake Latz, who came on to start the ninth inning in the finale, allowed one run to cross the plate, but the Rangers had put six on the board, rendering it moot.
Missing Marcus
Travis Jankowski led off the game for the Rangers in the finale against Arizona on Wednesday. That was the first time someone not named “Marcus Semien” had led off for the Rangers in 349 games – just over two years.
Semien sat on Wednesday, even with an off day on Thursday. The All-Star second baseman has been suffering discomfort after a collision with Adolis Garcia. On that play, Semien was upended and landed awkwardly on his head and shoulder. That soreness has been with Semien since the series against Los Angeles earlier this month, and the decision to let him rest was a mutual one, according to manager Bochy. Semien will now have two full days off before the team plays in Miami.
A sweep of the Diamondbacks, albeit in just two games, is the kind of series that the Rangers need to be winning. Like Texas, Arizona has been struggling with consistency, but the Rangers are a far better team on paper and they showed that in actuality by finally stringing together some offense while the arms handled their business.
Now, with no World Series memories to fuel them, they head to Miami to take on a basement-dwelling team, but they do so riding the momentum of their first winning streak in weeks.
Do you think the Rangers are back on track after their World Series rematch sweep? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.