Marcus Semien’s streak reaches 23 games as Rangers complete sweep of Mariners

ARLINGTON (AP) — Marcus Semien extended MLB’s longest hitting streak this season to 23 games, Jonah Heim homered and drove in five runs, and Texas’ offense kept rolling Sunday in a 12-3 victory that it ended with a sweep of the Seattle Mariners.

Corey Seager also deepened as the Rangers won back-to-back games by a combined score of 28-9 after taking the series opener 2-0.

The AL West leaders scored at least 10 runs for the 16th time in 58 games and have won five straight series, their longest streak in five years.

Nathan Eovaldi (8-2) allowed one hit with seven strikeouts in six shutout innings for his seventh straight win.

The right-hander has a 0.68 ERA over his last seven starts, a streak that includes a career-best streak of 29 2/3 shutout innings and two complete games. He began the day as the only pitcher in the majors with multiple complete games.

All nine Texas batters in the starting lineup had at least one hit and the Rangers finished with 15 a day after hitting a season-high 19. Rookie third baseman Josh Jung had three hits.

Ninth hitter Travis Jankowski was the last to join the group with a sixth-inning double. By then, the center fielder had already made the defensive play of the game by robbing Mike Ford of a home run with a jumping catch over the wall in front of the Texas bullpen between right-center field in the fifth.

Jankowski had another jump grab on the wall in center in the eighth, though the Cal Raleigh line appeared to be just below the yellow line near the 407-foot sign.

Just as he did in Texas’ 16-6 victory on Saturday, Semien extended his career-best hitting streak with a first-inning double. He has reached base in 31 consecutive games, also a career high.

Seattle rookie Bryce Miller had walked three in his first 36 major league innings before walking two in the first before Heim’s two-run, two-out double with the bases loaded.

Miller (3-3) retired just one of seven batters in the third before being replaced after Robbie Grossman’s two-run double. Seager led off the five-run inning with his sixth home run.

The 24-year-old Texan allowed seven runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings after giving up 11 hits and eight runs to the New York Yankees in his previous start. Miller allowed just four runs with three shutout starts in the first five starts of his major league career.

Texas had another five-run inning in the sixth, capped by Heim’s seventh home run, a three-run homer off the foul pole in right for a 12–0 lead. The five RBIs tied Heim’s career high.

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