Semien moving forward and staying positive with game-winning homer

ARLINGTON -- It’s no secret that Marcus Semien likes to play every day.

The Rangers’ iron man hadn’t missed multiple games in a single season since 2020, when he played 53 of the 60 regular season games of the COVID-shortened season as a member of the A’s. That was until earlier this week against the Padres when manager Bruce Bochy felt like the second baseman needed a day to reset at the plate.

“I'm not happy about yesterday. We lost the game,” Semien said after missing his second game of the year. “The main thing is we need wins. It's not about me. Would I like to perform better than I am performing? Yes. I think that can help us win. So that's what I'm focused on.”

On Saturday afternoon, Semien helped the Rangers win when he launched a go-ahead, two-run homer off of Rays reliever Kevin Kelly, propelling Texas to a 4-3 victory and a series win over Tampa Bay at Globe Life Field. It was Semien’s first home run since June 9, snapping a string of 22 straight homerless games, his longest drought since 2022 (43 games).

“I had a swing to win the game,” Semien said postgame. “That's all I can ask for as a Major League player. I want to build on that. I don't want to talk about struggles. I want to talk about the good things, like that swing, getting on base, scoring runs and just doing things that will help us.”

Semien said he felt like the Rangers were in control all game. They probably shouldn’t have even needed a go-ahead homer from him after leading for most of the first six innings.

Rangers starter Andrew Heaney dealt 5 1/3 shutout innings with seven strikeouts, while the Texas offense put a run on the board in the second and third innings. But then Josh Sborz relieved Heaney and allowed two bloop singles in his second inning of work before a blast from Yandy Díaz off Jacob Latz briefly changed the momentum in the Rays' favor.

Then Semien answered back. It marked the Rangers’ second go-ahead home run in the seventh inning or later this season, joining Corey Seager’s eighth-inning three-run shot on May 6 at Oakland.

“I was so pumped for him and obviously pumped for us to change the momentum a little bit,” Heaney said. “I’m just happy for him. I know it's been tough. I'm not gonna pretend to know what's going on. I'm not a hitter. But Marcus is great. He knows what he's doing. And I know that felt good for him.”

In June, Semien hit just .202/.297/.298. It was one of the worst months of his 12-year big league career, closely following April 2022 when he hit .157/.226/.217 in 93 plate appearances.

Those struggles were part of why the coaching staff felt Semein needed another day off, especially as the Rangers came off a second straight month with an 11-16 record. But even so, Bochy has been assertive in his support of Semien, even through his recent skid.

“We’re all human, we all go through our moments,” Bochy said before Saturday’s game.

“I’m sure, for him, the homer is big,” Bochy added postgame. “He had the day off. He worked hard. I'm sure that gave him some time to reset, clear his mind a little bit, look at some things, work on some things. He’s such a good player. Everybody goes through their times where it's not quite going well. You know they're going to come out of it and that was the case with Marcus.”

What’s left to figure out is if he -- and the Rangers as a whole -- can start stringing some things together consistently.

“Like I said, we want to stay positive,” Semien said. “Talking about those struggles is not going to help us come back from the hole we've dug ourselves in. So, for me, answering those questions isn't gonna do me any better. It won’t do us any better. So I think just focusing on how we won the game today is gonna help us.”