ARLINGTON, Texas — On Saturday afternoon, before the hot streak had really set in, the pregame Rangers conversation between manager Chris Woodward and the media centered mostly on the case of Corey Seager, the pretty unlucky one.
“If pretty means the most unlucky,” Woodward retorted.
Entering Monday, Seager’s season from the plate had been a dichotomy between the expected and the actual. According to Statcast, his batting average was .059 points behind his expected batting average, marking the fifth-worst difference in the entire league. His slugging percentage and weighted on base average tell similar stories.
Since that conversation, it seems Seager has discovered a remedy for his unlucky ways. Besides, luck can’t be a factor if you hit it over the fence.
It’s the longest home run streak of Seager’s career, and even though the numbers show an element of unluckiness to his season thus far, one of those home runs came on an assist off the glove of Minnesota Twins outfielder Gilberto Celestino.
Maybe, the Rangers’ luck is starting to change. Or as Monday showed, maybe it’s just playing the last-place A’s — at least for the first seven innings of this series.
The Rangers’ run production came in a variety of ways in addition to Seager’s luck-immune, 420-foot home run. It started on a balk in the second inning from Oakland starting pitcher Adrián Martínez. During the same at-bat, Leody Taveras scored on a ball in the dirt that would’ve been a close play, if A’s catcher Sean Murphy was covering the plate.
Later on, rookie third baseman Josh Smith hit a sinking line drive to center that somehow got under the legs of centerfielder Ramon Laureano. It rolled all the way to the centerfield warning track, and Smith rolled all the way around the bases, sliding head first and helmetless for his first career home run.
It wasn’t all luck, though. Leody Taveras of former top prospect fame had a career day with three hits and three RBIs. By the end of it, his batting average had risen to .317.
Speaking of former top prospects: Spencer Howard, formerly the crown jewel of the Philadelphia Phillies’ farm system, had perhaps his best appearance in a Rangers uniform. He scattered six hits over five innings and, most importantly, didn’t fall victim to the big inning. Letting one run turn into many has been Howard’s Achilles heel, but on Monday he limited it to two runs, including one earned. He ended his night saving a run in style, sprinting off the mound, sliding, bare-handing a slow dribbler and turning to get the last out of the fifth.
By the time the 7th inning ended, the Rangers all-but called the game over. The Rangers swapped their stars for their backups, inserting Meibrys Viloria at catcher, Steven Duggar in left, newly-recalled Sam Huff at first and put Kolby Allard – their go-to call up in a pitching pinch – on the mound in a 10-2 game.
Allard recorded one out and allowed five runs on two home runs. Garrett Richards allowed another run before Dennis Santana escaped the eighth inning.
Brett Martin, the only reliever that’s been in a save situation since former closer Joe Barlow was put on hiatus, eased every fan’s worry of a potential comeback by recording his third career save. The A’s had the tying run on base and the potential winning run at the plate in the ninth, but Martin got Chad Pinder to strike out to end it.
A sigh of relief before claps at Globe Life Field for the Rangers third win in four games.
Despite a lopsided lead, and many breaks to go with it, the Rangers tested their luck against the last-place A’s on Monday. But maybe luck is starting to go their way.
