Semien hit in helmet by fastball, then blasts HR

ARLINGTON, Texas — Marcus Semien launched a two-run homer after getting hit in the helmet by a pitch, Adolis García stole home and the Texas Rangers avoided being swept by manager Bruce Bochy’s former team with a 7-2 win over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.

The first pitch thrown by Giants starter Keaton Winn was a 94.5 mph fastball that knocked Semien’s helmet off his head.

“Not how you want to start the game. Definitely not,” said Semien, who had no plans to watch the replay. “The first pitch, you don’t expect that, but luckily I’m OK.”

Semien then stole second base after getting checked on, and eventually scored the first run. When he batted again in the second inning, he went deep on the next pitch he saw, an 86.4 mph slider, to put Texas up 5-0.

“Scary moment, as you well know, when a guy gets hit in the helmet,” Bochy said. “Marcus, he does have a knack next time up — hit a home run. I’ve seen it more than once now. He plays with a lot of fire, and he gets ticked off at times.”

Nathan Eovaldi (3-2) went seven innings, his longest start for Texas since April 3. The right-hander, who missed most of May with a right groin strain, struck out five, walked one and gave up two runs on five hits.

Mike Yastrzemski homered for the Giants (32-34), who won the first two games of this matchup against the manager who guided San Francisco to three World Series titles from 2010 to ’14.

The Rangers (31-34) won their first World Series crown last season after Bochy came out of a three-year retirement. They had lost four of their previous five games, with a combined five runs in those losses.

Winn (3-7) hadn’t pitched since leaving his start at the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 14 because of a right forearm strain. The right-hander struck out seven over 4⅓ innings, but allowed seven runs on six hits, two walks and the hit batsman.

“It definitely rattled me a little bit,” Winn said. “Anytime you do something that you don’t mean to do like that, especially hit a guy in the head, it kind of shook me a little bit.”

He acknowledged he was a little surprised Semien came out swinging his second time up.

After Semien was hit by the first pitch and Josh Smith walked, García snapped an 0-for-16 slide with a sharp single that loaded the bases. Wyatt Langford hit a two-run single with two outs, then García scored on the back end of a double steal.

It was the third career steal of home by García, and the first for Texas since his last on Sept. 24, 2021.

Semien’s 11th homer this season marked his 19th time reaching base in a span of 37 plate appearances over nine games since ending his consecutive games streak at 349. That day off May 29 is the only game he has missed in his three seasons with Texas.

It was his 62nd home run while playing second base since joining the Rangers in 2021. That ties Alfonso Soriano for the third most by a second baseman in team history

“That’s what I want to do anyway, if I get hit or not,” Semien said of the homer. “I got a mistake. I definitely want to be aggressive on a pitch up in the zone like that.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.