ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Corey Seager certainly made the Arizona Diamondbacks pay when they did pitch to him.
For the second game in a row, Seager homered on the first pitch of the next at-bat after getting intentionally walked and the reigning champion Texas Rangers swept a quick two-game rematch of last year’s World Series.
“When he’s hot, he barrels up anything thrown near the zone,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said.
Seager homered for the eighth time in eight games, Dane Dunning threw five scoreless innings and the Rangers won 6-1 on Wednesday.
The Diamondbacks intentionally walked Seager with two outs and an open base in the third after the Rangers had taken a 1-0 lead on Jonah Heim’s RBI double. When Seager came up with a runner on and two outs in the fifth, the World Series MVP lined a 97.7 mph inside cutter on the first pitch into the right-field seats to make it 4-0.
“Extremely impressive,” Dunning said.
“I mean he’s carrying us, he’s trying to carry us through that tough stretch,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “I don’t know what else to say. He’s just an incredible hitter.”
Reigning World Series champion Texas (27-29) won its third game in a row since losing five consecutive series. The Diamondbacks (25-30) have lost seven of their last 11 games.
Arizona had tried the same thing Tuesday night, when Seager was given a free pass with two outs in the third, then hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth for the final runs in a 4-2 victory.
“We’re just playing good baseball,” said Seager, who never really likes to talk about himself. “Hitting’s contagious. … and it’s just starting to roll.”
Texas played its first game in more than two years without Marcus Semien in the lineup. The leadoff-hitting second basemen ended his streak of 349 consecutive games since May 13, 2022, after playing banged up and still sore from an outfield collision May 18 with right fielder Adolis García.
“That was a little strange,” Seager said. “Everyone once in a while it’s OK.”
Dunning (4-3), in his second start back from being on the injured list with a right rotator cuff strain, struck out six. He walked four and allowed three hits, and got out of a bases-loaded jam in the third. The start had been pushed back a day after a serious sinus infection.
“I definitely got a little fatigued,” said Dunning, who threw 92 pitches. “When I came out of the game, I felt like I ran a half-marathon. I think it affected me a little bit more than I thought it was going to.”
Kirby Yates, the fifth Texas reliever, came on to get the final out after Arizona had scored its only run and had runners on the corners in the ninth.
Diamondbacks starter Ryne Nelson (3-4) gave up the long ball to Seager. The right-hander struck out three, walked three while giving up four runs and five hits over six innings.
Seager has 13 homers overall, with four in the past three games. He went deep twice in a series finale victory at Minnesota on Sunday, which ended the Rangers’ season-worst six-game losing streak and came a day after he didn’t homer for the only time since May 19. The shortstop is hitting .260 and has 29 RBIs in his 51 games this season.
Texas has gone deep in an MLB-high 13 games in a row, with 19 homers in that span. Seager has nine of those, including one in the May 14 game against Cleveland that started that team streak.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: SS Geraldo Perdomo, who played only seven games this season before surgery April 8 on his right meniscus, is getting close to starting a rehab assignment. Lovullo said Perdomo just needs to run the bases pain-free before doing that.
Rangers: 3B Josh Jung (fractured right wrist) began swinging off a tee with a lighter bat after being examined in Arizona this week. He got hit by a pitch April 1 in the fourth game of the season.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Zac Gallen (5-4, 3.12 ERA) pitches in the opener of a four-game series at the New York Mets on Thursday night.
Rangers: After a day off, RHP José Ureña (1-4, 3.53 ERA) starts the series opener Friday night at Miami. Ureña began his big league career with the Marlins from 2015-20, and they are the only big-league team he hasn’t faced in a game.
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