Seager Homers Against Former Team, Rangers Roll Dodgers, 8-2
In his first game against his former team, Corey Seager hit one of five Texas Rangers home runs as part of an 8-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Surprise Stadium on Thursday.
The win snapped the Rangers' three-game skid, now making them 7-5-1 in Cactus League play.
Seager, Nathaniel Lowe, Jonah Heim, Joe McCarthy and Nick Solak all hit solo blasts, three of which came on the first at-bat after a new Dodger pitcher had entered the game. Seager and Solak each hit their third homers of the spring, tying Brad Miller for the team lead. The Rangers have now hit 29 home runs in 13 games, which is an average of more than two per game.
Ben Ludeman / Courtesy of the Texas Rangers
Ben Ludeman / Courtesy of the Texas Rangers
Ben Ludeman / Courtesy of the Texas Rangers
Lowe continued his strong performance this spring, and is now slashing .375/.375/.667/1.042 with two home runs and four RBI in eight games. McCarthy, who is still in camp as a non-roster invitee (NRI), improved his batting average to .583 (7-12) while Heim and Andy Ibáñez each finished 2-for-3 on the day. Brad Miller singled and scored a run in the second inning to extend his team-best hitting streak to seven games.
Taylor Hearn started and earned the win for Texas, allowing one run on three hits and two walks over four innings against a Dodgers lineup that featured regulars in Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Trea Turner, Max Muncy, Justin Turner, Will Smith and Chris Taylor. Hearn has had a productive spring and is now 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 8 2/3 innings and three starts this spring.
Nick Snyder, Brock Burke, Josh Sborz and Spencer Patton combined for four scoreless innings of relief. Burke has now struck out eight of 23 batters faced without issuing a walk thru three scoreless Cactus League outings, totaling 6 1/3 innings.
What's Next?
The Rangers travel to Scottsdale on Friday afternoon for a matchup against the San Francisco Giants. First pitch is one hour earlier than the typical spring start time, scheduled for 2:05 p.m. CT. Texas southpaw Kolby Allard (1-0, 0.00) is set to square off against San Francisco righty Alex Cobb (1-0, 0.00).
