ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Texas Rangers finally seem to have some real momentum going in their first season under manager Skip Schumaker.
They have won three consecutive series for the first time. Two of those came even before two-time World Series MVP shortstop Corey Seager and outfielder Wyatt Langford returned from the injured list to play in the weekend series against Cleveland.
“You start winning series consecutively, you just start gaining momentum and things can really take off,” said third baseman Josh Jung, the team’s top hitter batting .313. “You’ve just got to continue that.”
Texas (32-33) goes into the opener of a three-game series at Kansas City on Tuesday night with a chance to reach .500 for the first time since the Rangers were 16-16 on June 1. They are only two games behind AL West-leading Seattle, and in the final wild-card spot.
“We’ve been trying to get to that .500 mark and then go beyond that,” said Jacob deGrom, who has thrown 11 scoreless innings over his last two starts.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner is 3-1 with a 1.26 ERA in the six games he has pitched at home. He tossed six innings in a 10-0 win over Cleveland on Sunday.
Almost even again
The Rangers were a season-worst six games under .500 before going 7-2 over their last three series — which was preceded by them being no-hit against Houston. They swept Kansas City at home, then won the first two of three games at St. Louis. That five-game winning streak is their longest this season.
“Our defense has really cleaned up ... much better the last 30 days, which has helped our pitching, and then our bullpen’s been really, really steady,” Schumaker said. “The offense has found different ways to win games. That’s just the bottom line. We’ve done different things.”
On the road again, but still a lot to play at home
Texas, which missed the playoffs each of the past two seasons after winning its only World Series title in 2023, is going into a stretch with 16 of 22 games on the road through July 1.
But after that, the Rangers will spend a lot more time at home. They play 44 of their final 75 regular-season games (59%) at Globe Life Field.
The returns of Seager and Langford
After missing 39 games because of a right forearm strain, Langford has reached safely in all three games since his return Friday night. That extended his on-base streak to 14 games, the longest for a Rangers player this season.
Seager was out 19 games with lower back inflammation before also getting activated Friday. The shortstop snapped a career-worst 0-for-29 slump with a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning right after a double by Langford.
“It’s nice, me and Corey coming back,” Langford said. ”Not only for the team, but for us personally just being back out there trying to help the team win.”
After hits in his first two games back, the 32-year-old Seager got a planned day off in Sunday’s series finale against Guardians. He likely will get more of those after playing 41 of Texas’ first 42 games prior to his IL stint.
“He’s going to have these periodically as he starts building up back into his season,” Schumaker said. “The built-in off days are going to be crucial for him so we can get him for the remainder of the season. A healthy Corey Seager makes our team a lot better, so trying to avoid any more stints on the IL is the goal.”
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Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press
