ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Corey Seager homered to end a career-worst 0-for-29 slump in the big leagues in his first game back with the Texas Rangers on Friday night after the five-time All-Star shortstop missed 19 games because of lower back inflammation.
Seager's two-run homer in the sixth inning against Cleveland rookie Parker Messick came right after a double by Wyatt Langford, who was also activated from the injured list before the game. Seager's eighth
homer of the season put Texas ahead 3-2.
Langford, the left fielder, had missed 39 games since going on the injured list April 22 because of a right forearm strain. They batted 1-2 in the lineup against the Guardians and their consecutive extra-base hits came in their third at-bats of the game.
Seager went into the series opener against Cleveland in an 0-for-27 slide that included 11 strikeouts. The two-time World Series MVP had been hitless in his previous seven games, also a career worst, since an RBI single on May 6 at Yankee Stadium after he hit a home run earlier in that game.
“I’m excited to see, really for the first time in some time, our group together. Still missing (second baseman) Josh Smith, but beyond that, we have not had our group together in a long time," Chris Young, the team’s president of baseball operations, said before the game.
“Look at the past week, 10 days, and there have been a lot of positives with the way we’ve played,” Young said. "And now getting Corey and Wyatt back in this lineup, I think will be very big for us. I’m excited to see what that does for everybody.”
Before a loss at St. Louis on Wednesday, the Rangers had a five-game winning streak that was their longest of the season.
Utility man Cody Freeman and outfielder Alejandro Osuna were optioned to Triple-A Round Rock to make room on the roster. Utility player Sam Haggerty was designated for assignment after he was activated from the bereavement/family medial emergency list.
Langford and Seager played in two rehab games together this week at Double-A Frisco. That was after Langford played two games with Round Rock.
“Definitely feel great. I feel like I'm in a really good spot,” Langford said before the game.
Seager, who wasn't in the clubhouse pregame when it was open to reporters, hadn't been in a big league game since May 13. At that point, the 32-year-old shortstop had started 42 of the Rangers' first 43 games. He said then that physically he felt “completely fine” after playing all of their 24 games in a 27-day span.
The Rangers had a day off after that and planned for Seager to get an extra break by sitting out the series opener at Houston. But he didn't play at all in that series after waking up one morning with back spasms.
When Seager went on the IL, he was hitting .179 with seven homers and 20 RBIs. His 50 strikeouts accounted for 27.5% of his 182 plate appearances. He was 6 for 61 (.098) with 23 K’s over his last 16 games.
In his first rehab game Tuesday night, Seager went 1 for 2 with a single and fielded two groundballs while playing shortstop. He went 0 for 3 on Wednesday.
Langford hit .238 with one homer and four RBIs in his 20 games for Texas before going on the injured list. He was 2 for 10 with five walks in four rehab games.
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