Bruce Bochy made a major change in the lineup Monday night in Sacramento. It was apparently the shakeup that the offense needed.
The Rangers collected eight runs on 10 hits including home-runs from Marcus Semien, Josh Smith, Wyatt Langford and Jake Burger.
“It’s a little different, obviously,” Smith said to the media after the game. “We’re just trying to change things up a little bit, get some little bit more offensive production and try to score more runs obviously. You’ve still got to go out there, perform and hit. You do the same thing no matter where you hit.”
Bruce Bochy believed moving Corey Seager to the 3 hole and Marcus Semien to the 5 hole would add experience to the middle of the lineup. It appeared to work.
Patrick Corbin pitched a good game, going 5 innings and earning his second win in a Rangers uniform.
The bullpen gave up 3 more runs, but the Rangers put up enough offense to hang on to the win.
Everyone looked more comfortable at the plate, even Joc Pederson, who is in one of the worst streaks in Major League Baseball history at zero for his last forty-one at bats.
If Pederson gets going, this offense will be very scary. Even without him, they showed last night what they are capable of.
Hopefully this is the start of the turn around for the Rangers bats. The pitching has been good all season, and if the bats come alive, they will be tough to beat going forward.
