Marcus Semien scored the game-winning run on Nathaniel Lowe's sharp RBI single grounded through the left side of the infield as the AL West-leading Rangers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 on Monday night.
Corey Seager followed Semien with a single, a popup to shallow left field that third baseman Nolan Arenado chased down but was unable to catch. Lowe then delivered his opposite-field shot off left-hander Génesis Cabrera (1-1).
The Cardinals, who have lost four straight, tied the game in the eighth after loading the bases with no outs against rookie reliever Grant Anderson. Some botched baserunning cost them a chance to take the lead after Paul Goldschmidt’s sacrifice fly.
Arenado followed Goldschmidt with a drive to deep left, though the two base runners were close to each other when the ball ricocheted off the wall as left fielder Ezequiel Duran slammed into it before quickly recovering to get the ball.
Nolan Gorman scored the tying run but when Tommy Edman retreated toward third after making the turn, Arenado was sliding into the bag. Edman got tagged out and Arenado slammed his helmet near the plate after Willson Contreras' inning-ending grounder.
Semien had an RBI single that put Texas 3-1 in the second, when he was the third consecutive batter to drive in a run off Adam Wainwright. The inning began with back-to-back singles by Jonah Heim and Mitch Garver before Duran’s RBI double and an RBI groundout by Leody Taveras.
The 24-game hitting streak for Semien is the longest in the majors this season and the longest in his career. The Rangers' franchise record is 28, set in 2000 by Gabe Kapler, now the manager of the San Francisco Giants.
St. Louis got an unearned run in the second when Contreras reached on a two-base error after right fielder Adolis Garcia dropped a flyball, stole third and scored on a single by Paul DeJong.
Wainwright gave up three runs and eight hits while throwing a season-high 106 pitches (64 strikes) over 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander hasn't pitched past the sixth inning in any of his six starts, but has gone at least five innings in all of them, since missing the first 33 games this season because of a groin injury sustained during the World Baseball Classic.
Arenado and Goldschmidt had an RBI in the same game for the first time since May 15.
Dane Dunning (4-1, 2.06 ERA) makes his sixth start since filling in deGrom's spot in the rotation. Dunning is 2-1 with 2.28 ERA in that span. Lefty Matthew Liberatore (1-1, 4.91) will be on the mound Tuesday night for the Cardinals.
