Corey Seager snapped out of his slump by belting two home runs on Tuesday night, powering the Texas Rangers to a 6-4 win against the Kansas City Royals in Arlington, Texas.
Seager had been hitless in 16 consecutive at-bats before he delivered a two-out home run off Brad Keller (1-3) in the first inning. He went deep again in the third inning, marking his first multi-homer game since signing with the Rangers in the offseason.
Texas starter Martin Perez (1-2) gave up four runs (one earned) with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 2.10. He allowed five hits and no walks. Joe Barlow worked a clean ninth inning for his fifth save.
The Royals’ first-inning struggles continued.
Keller (1-2) was one strike away from posting a scoreless first, but Seager connected on a 1-2 fastball for an opposite-field home run. Later in the frame, the Rangers tacked on Kole Calhoun’s two-run single. One of the runs was unearned.
The Royals have been outscored 31-6 in the first inning this season.
Keller lasted 5 2/3 innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on nine hits and a walk. He fanned three.
Seager struck again in the third inning, belting his second homer off Keller. This drive went to right field and padded the Rangers’ lead to four runs.
A two-strike RBI single by Brad Miller made it 5-0 in the fourth inning.
In the fifth inning, the Royals pushed a run across on MJ Melendez’s RBI infield single, which scored Hunter Dozier, who had doubled.
Melendez, playing his sixth big-league game, is Kansas City’s second-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline. The RBI was the first of his big-league career.
The Royals capitalized on a pair of errors by Charlie Culberson at third base to score three unearned runs in the seventh inning. Michael A. Taylor and Whit Merrifield had RBI singles in the rally.
–Field Level Media
