ARLINGTON -- Marcus Semien jogged back to the dugout after launching a game-tying home run in the fourth inning on Saturday afternoon, relishing the roar from the crowd of 35,427 fans at Globe Life Field.
Then, almost shockingly, he heard the crack of another bat, and instantly “The Natural” blared through the ballpark, signaling another home run, this time a go-ahead shot from Corey Seager.
It shocked Semien because it was the first time the two superstar middle infielders hit back-to-back home runs this season.
“It seems like every time I'm putting my helmet away, he hits a home run, and that means that [I didn’t],” Semien joked. “And [Seager’s] been swinging the bat really well, so it was good to see.”
Semien and Seager combined for four hits and five RBIs in the Rangers’ 9-7 series-clinching win over the Twins -- including a go-ahead RBI triple from Semien in the eighth. But it also felt like, for the first time this season, the club’s $500 million investment was truly coming to fruition, with both pillars contributing at the same times.
Semien said he imagined this exact scenario, or something similar to it, when they both signed with the Rangers this offseason.
“I just love when we hit home runs,” Semien said. “Everybody feeds off each other, and in my opinion, it’s the best way to score. We do other things. We can steal bases, we can create runs in other ways. But home runs are a gut punch sometimes. It was the first time we went back-to-back, so of course I was happy.”
If you ask manager Chris Woodward, this all felt inevitable.
No matter how much the Rangers’ middle-infield duo struggled to start the 2022 season, it always felt like there would be a moment where it all clicked back into place and the two would return to form.
For Semien, it was simply about “feeling right” at the plate. For Seager, it involved a little bit of luck, with a lot of hard-hit outs early on, while his expected numbers went through the roof.
For both, it’s finally manifested into solid production at the top of the Rangers’ lineup.
“It's not surprising now because I know they've been having good at-bats,” Woodward said. “It’s just pressure. Not just in at-bat quality, but the threat of hitting a homer. They both did it today and that’s what we got them here for. We knew it was just a matter of time. When those two guys are at the top, swinging like that, it makes it really tough on the opposing team.”
While it may have felt inevitable for Woodward, it wasn’t without some growing pains from the start.
When Seager opened the season slower than usual, he was still productive at the top of the lineup, but Semien struggled through the first two months of the year. Even so, neither truly had a May to be proud of.
April + May
Seager: .232/.302/.438
Semien: .199/.266/.274
Then, when Semien emerged from his early-season slump in late-May and into June, Seager entered one of the worst stretches of his career.
June
Seager: .222/.304/.394
Semien: .287/.331/.519
Now through eight games in July, it’s coming together for the two middle infielders at the same time:
Seager: .355/.429/.645
Semien: .294/.333/.618
“Again, I'm not surprised at all,” Woodward said. “I've just been watching their at-bats lately and it's been really good. The consistency right now is the thing. There's no relenting and both guys are like that. I've talked about that a lot. They’re both prepared as well as anybody I've ever seen and they just don't take their foot off the gas. When they’re hot, it’s pretty special.”