Corey Seager snapped out of his slump by belting two home runs on Tuesday night, powering the host Texas Rangers to a 6-4 win against the Kansas City Royals.
Seager had been hitless in 16 straight at-bats before he delivered a two-out home run off Brad Keller (1-3) in the first inning. He went deep again in the third inning, marking his first multi-home run game since signing with the Rangers in the offseason.
Rangers starter Martin Perez (1-2) gave up four runs (one earned) with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 2.10. Joe Barlow worked a clean ninth inning for his fifth save.
The Royals' first-inning struggles continued.
Keller (1-2) was one strike away from posting a scoreless first, but Seager connected on a 1-2 fastball for an opposite-field home run. The Rangers tacked on two more runs on Kole Calhoun's two-out, two-run single. One of the runs was unearned.
The Royals have been outscored 31-6 in the first inning this season.
Keller lasted 5 2/3 innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on nine hits and a walk.
Seager struck again in the third inning, belting his second homer off Keller. This drive went to right field and padded the Rangers' lead to four runs.
A two-strike RBI single by Brad Miller made it 5-0 in the fourth inning.
In the fifth inning, the Royals pushed a run across on MJ Melendez's RBI infield single, which scored Hunter Dozier, who had doubled.
Melendez, playing his sixth big-league game, is Kansas City's second-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline. The RBI was the first of his big-league career.
The Royals capitalized on a pair of errors by Charlie Culberson at third base. They scored three unearned runs in the seventh inning. Michael A. Taylor and Whit Merrifield had RBI singles in the rally.
--Field Level Media