Texas Rangers Corey Seager delivered a three-hit, three-RBI performance to lead his club to an 11-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox, according to game accounts from the Associated Press. The win pushed the Rangers past the idle Houston Astros into sole possession of first place in the American League West for the first time since July 30.
Rangers Take AL West Lead Behind Seager and Longballs
Texas outhit the American League Central leaders 14-5, fueled by home runs from Jake Burger and Wyatt Langford. Dominican infielder Ezequiel Durán added two RBIs to support a strong outing from starting pitcher Kumar Rocker.
Rocker earned his fifth win of the year against ten losses, pitching 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander surrendered two runs on five hits while striking out eight batters and walking three. Robby Ahlstrom followed with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, retiring all four batters he faced, and Jordan Montgomery closed out the contest with two perfect innings.
Early Offense and Defensive Highlights Set the Tone
The visitors opened the scoring in the first inning when Joc Pederson drew a walk against White Sox pitcher José Urquidy, who fell to 2-2 on the season, and scored on Durán’s groundout. Evan Carter followed with a two-out double to push the lead to 2-0. In the bottom half of the frame, Chicago’s Andrew Benintendi was robbed of a potential two-run home run by outfielder Brandon Nimmo, preserving the Rangers’ early advantage.
Durán drove in another run with a bases-loaded infield hit in the second inning to make it 3-0. During that frame, home plate umpire Chris Guccione ejected Pederson following remarks from the dugout. Pederson had been mired in an 0-for-24 slump before striking out looking earlier in the sequence and attempting to discuss the call.
Chicago responded in the bottom of the second when Tristan Peters launched a two-out home run off Rocker. It marked Peters’ third game with a homer and his tenth of the season, cutting the deficit to 3-2. Seager answered in the third inning with a two-out double that drove in two runs, extending the Texas lead to 5-2 and setting the stage for a comfortable victory.
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