Texas Rangers Stars Showing Hints of Finally Turning Things Around

The two highest-paid Texas Rangers fielders have enjoyed an up-and-down existence since the franchise claimed its World Series championship.

Not to say the Rangers are better off without Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, but the double-play combination has seen better days. Lately, however, things are looking up for the two former All-Stars.

They’re both on an uptick and, not so coincidentally, so are the Rangers. The team has now successfully won four in a row – only the third winning streak of at least that length this season. Texas finished off a three-game sweep on the Chicago White Sox on Sunday at Globe Life Field.

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The Rangers returned to the .500 mark (36-36) for the first time since May 21 (25-25) with the 2-1 victory. Behind a stellar start from Kumar Rocker, Seager and Semien also came up big.

Seager went 1-for-3, while also working a walk in the first inning. He’s now drawn a walk in 10 consecutive games, which is the longest streak in this century for the Rangers and the fourth-longest in club history (beg. 1972).

The last Texas player to have a streak of at least 10 was Rusty Greer during the 1999 season.

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Semien extended his hitting streak to a season-high eight games with a double in the seventh. The second baseman is batting .344/.389/.563/.951 (11-32) with one home run, four doubles and seven RBI in that span.

He has 22 hits in his last 54 at-bats over 15 games (.407). Semien lifted a sacrifice fly in the fifth, pushing the Texas lead to 2-0. He has an RBI in three straight games, making a total of nine since June 5 which is the most on the club.

That's the kind of production the Rangers need from Seager and Semien headed into the trade deadline next month.

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The Rangers also got a big showing from utility man Ezequiel Duran, who started at third base and reached base in three of his four plate appearances. He laced a pair of doubles after entering the game with one extra-base hit all season.

It was also his first game with at least two extra-base hits all season and drove in the first run of the game with a two-out double to score Adolis Garcia.

“For a guy that’s not getting a lot of playing time that was pretty impressive what he did today,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of Duran. “The bench plays such a critical role in your season. Those guys get those spot starts and he handled it well.”

For more Rangers news, head over to Rangers On SI.