Seager homers to mark return to lineup, Dodger Stadium

LOS ANGELES -- Corey Seager was welcomed back to Dodger Stadium with a highlight video and loud cheers ahead of Tuesday’s series opener. He received another standing ovation as he walked up to the batter’s box in the first inning on Wednesday.

Less than two hours later, there were a few scattered boos as Seager rounded the bases.

Seager, who spent the first seven seasons of his career with L.A., was playing his first game as a visitor at Dodger Stadium. He definitely looked right at home as he launched a go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth inning to propel the Rangers to a 3-2 win to even the series in Los Angeles.

The former Dodgers shortstop entered the night having slashed .297/.364/.533 in 310 career games at Dodger Stadium. And he looked right at home once again.

“I guess it kind of comes to the territory, right?” Seager said of the boos with a laugh. “I get it. They're diehard fans. They want to win every night and I get it. I’ve been on that side and know what it feels like to have them on your side, so it makes sense.”

It’s the third time this season that Seager has hit a home run with two or three men on base to turn a deficit into a lead. Seager also extended his career-best on-base streak to 29 games, surpassing his previous career high of 26 games. During this stretch, he's slashing .327/.421/.692 with 12 homers and 25 RBIs. It’s the longest such streak by a Ranger since Marcus Semien from April 30-June 6, 2023 (33 games).

“It’s good to get Corey back,” Semien said. “You see what he can do when he’s in the lineup. One big swing was all he needed. We just needed to get out to a lead to let the big guys [David Robertson and Kirby Yates] at the back of the bullpen get in there.”

Seager was unusually patient in his return to the field after he missed the Rangers’ last four games with left hamstring tightness. He worked an eight-pitch walk earlier in the game in which he didn’t even swing until the count was 2-2, though he was first-pitch swinging his second time up, a four-pitch plate appearance that ended with him flying out to left field.

His at-bat in the fifth began similarly to the first. Seager took two cutters for balls before whiffing at a sinker outside of the zone. He took one more ball outside before Buehler finally found the zone. Seager fouled off a 92.5 mph cutter and an 83.7 mph slider to bring the count full.

Then, on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Buehler challenged Seager with a heater in the middle of the zone. The Dodgers’ right-hander did not win.

“I’d thrown him everything else,” Buehler said. “Corey is one of the best hitters in the league. It is what it is. It sucks that he’s my buddy and he clipped me. But at the end of the day, people don’t just give out $300 million for no reason. He’s as good as there is in this game. I tried to go in and kind of left it over the plate. It is what it is.”

Seager, on the other hand, said he was expecting the fastball -- but it isn't quite so simple.

“He’s smart, man” Seager said of Buehler “He’s not just going to throw the heater [without thinking]. It was a fun battle all night and something we can talk about later. He was sharp tonight. It’s a different arsenal [from when they were teammates]. He’s trying to change some things up, but he still goes out there and competes and gives you good innings. … He mixed his speeds and mixed locations, threw a bunch of different heaters at us. He was good. It was fun to go against him.”

Getting a healthy Seager back won’t fix the Rangers’ offense in a day. But it was all that was necessary on Wednesday night. Texas stranded seven on base and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. That one hit was Seager’s homer, which provided all three Rangers runs in the win.

There’s no doubt that the Rangers are at their best when Seager is on the field. Wednesday was just the most recent example of it.

“It's great,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He just had this presence out there in the lineup. We missed him, so it's good to have him back.”