Marcus Semien hit a go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to lead the Texas Rangers to a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night in Arlington, Tex.
Semien, who flew out to the wall in dead-center in his previous at-bat, smashed a 1-1 fastball from Cincinnati reliever Lucas Sims (1-1) 392 feet down the left field line and off the front of the second deck for his fifth home run of the season.
Evan Carter also homered and had two hits and Leody Taveras had a double and two hits for Texas, which won for just the third time in its last seven games.
Jose Leclerc (2-2) pitched a 1-2-3 eighth to pick up the win in relief and Kirby Yates struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth to earn his fourth save. The Rangers bullpen didn’t allow a baserunner over the final three innings. Starter Nathan Eovaldi went six innings and allowed one run on three hits, walking five and striking out eight.
Jonathan India had two hits and Elly De La Cruz had two walks, two stolen bases and a run scored for Cincinnati, which suffered its second straight loss.
Cincinnati took a 1-0 lead in the first inning without the benefit of a hit. De La Cruz and Spencer Steer both walked with one out and De La Cruz then tagged and took third on a long flyout to right by Christian Encarnacion-Strand. De La Cruz then stole home on a double-steal, his major league-leading 17th stolen base of the season.
Texas tied it, 1-1, in the second when Carter led off with his fifth home run of the season, a 404-foot drive into the bullpen in right-center. It was also his third homer in the last five games.
