Corey Seager hit two home runs, Jonah Heim added a two-run blast and Tyler Mahle was sterling on the mound as the visiting Texas Rangers defeated the Chicago Cubs 6-2 on Wednesday afternoon in the series finale.
Texas, which came into the three-game set carrying a five-game winning streak, salvaged Wednesday’s matinee after losing 7-0 on Monday and 10-6 on Tuesday.
It took Mahle’s second straight solid outing to cool off the Cubs’ bats, as the right-hander (2-0) allowed one run on just two hits over seven innings while striking out four and walking one.
Robert Garcia pitched 1 1/3 innings of one-run ball and Luke Jackson got the final two outs to finish off the Texas victory.
The Rangers backed Mahle with an 11-hit attack, with Seager, Heim and Leody Tavares producing two hits each. It was the second consecutive contest that Texas had at least 11 hits.
Chicago starter Shota Imanaga (2-1) went seven innings, surrendering five runs on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
The Rangers set the tone in the top of the first inning when Seager ripped an opposite-field solo home run to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
That score held up until the bottom of the fourth as the Cubs tied the game at 1-1 on Michael Busch’s one-out single to right that brought home Seiya Suzuki, who had tripled.
Texas took charge for good with a four-run fifth.
Kevin Pillar singled to start the frame and trotted home ahead of Heim’s two-run homer over the left-center field fence. Marcus Semien then singled and came across on a two-out double by Josh Jung. Jung later scored on a broken-bat single to right field by Adolis Garcia, pushing the Rangers’ lead to 5-1.
Seager struck again, ripping another solo home run into the basket in right field in the seventh to stoke the Texas advantage to 6-1.
