Cal Baseball: Marcus Semien, Rangers Close In on the AL West Crown

The two-time All-Star hit two home runs Sunday as Texas completed a sweep of the Seattle Mariners.

Marcus Semien and the Texas Rangers are on the doorstep of winning the American League West title.

The 33-year-old former Cal star hit a pair of solo home runs Sunday and the Rangers completed a sweep of the Seattle Mariners that sends them into the final week of the regular season with a 2.5-game lead on Houston, 3 over the Mariners.

Marcus Semien heads for home / Photo by Jerome Miron, USA Today

The Rangers and Mariners meet again for a season-ending four-game series in Seattle beginning Thursday, and if things fall correctly in the meantime Texas may already have locked up the division by then.

“Keep this mindset now, and when we get in (to the playoffs) have the same mindset,” Semien told the Fort Worth Star Telegram, when asked about the club’s timely four-game win streak. “The goal is not to get to the playoffs, it’s to win it all.”

Texas made it to the World Series in 2010 and ’11 but has never won the Fall Classic.

Just a year ago, the team finished 26 games under .500, 38 games back of the Astros in the AL West standings. Now they're ready to secure that spot at the top themselves.

The Rangers (87-68) are right back at it tonight, starting a three-game road series vs. the California Angels (70-86). The Astros (85-71) and Mariners (84-71) square off three times in Seattle before the weekend series get under way with the regular season ending on Sunday.

“Everybody understands there are a lot of scenarios,” Semien said. “But we also know: Win the division and we come home.”

It’s been another strong season for the Berkeley-raised second baseman, whose two-homer game vs. the Mariners was his third in a span of 15 days.

Through games on Sunday, here’s where the Rangers’ leadoff hitter ranks among AL leaders:

— First in runs scored with 117

— Second in hits with 178

— Fourth in doubles with 38

— Tied for first in WAR with teammate Corey Seager at 6.9

— First in at-bats with 642

— First among AL second basemen with 27 home runs and 97 RBIs

Semien delivered a tone-setting homer to lead off Sunday’s 9-8 win over the Mariners, extending his own season club record to 10 leading off a game. He hit another in the fourth inning, this one bouncing off the glove of outfielder Julio Rodriguez and over the fence.

“He told me I owe him one,” Semien said. “But I don’t know how a ball can bounce out of my glove at second and over the wall.”

Cover photo of Marcus Semien by Dan Hamilton, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo