This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Corey Seager slammed two home runs to account for all of Texas’ offense as the Rangers earned a 4-3 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday in the opener of a three-game series at Arlington, Texas.
Marcus Semien had two hits and scored a run for the Rangers, who have won two in a row for the first time since a five-game winning streak from July 21-25.
Rangers starter Dane Dunning allowed three runs and five hits in four innings. The right-hander struck out four and walked one.
Jose Urena (4-8) followed with four innings of shutout relief, allowing two hits along the way. Kirby Yates pitched a perfect ninth, fanning the last two batters for his 22nd save.
Jared Triolo hit a three-run homer and Billy McKinney and Joey Bart each had two hits and scored a run for the Pirates, who have dropped 12 of 14.
Pirates starter Luis L. Ortiz (5-4) gave up four runs and five hits in six innings. He struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter.
Seager clubbed a 449-foot homer deep to right on 3-2 cutter with one out in the first to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
Jonah Heim lined a single to right field to lead off the third for Texas. One out later, Semien pulled a base hit into left and Heim continued to third, drawing a throw from left fielder Bryan Reynolds, which allowed Semien to move up to second.
Seager then stepped up and hit a high fly that fell into the second row in right-center field for a three-run homer and a 4-0 lead.
Leading off the Pittsburgh fourth, Bart beat out an infield single down the third base line.
McKinney lined a two-out single up the middle later in the inning, bringing up Triolo, who pulled a line drive down the left field line that stayed inside the foul pole for a three-run homer that cut the deficit to one.
–Field Level Media
