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.
The Carolina Hurricanes have reached a three-year, $9.5 million extension with forward Taylor Hall through the 2027-28 season.
The team announced the signing Wednesday, a day after the Hurricanes closed out the New Jersey Devils in their first-round playoff series. It marked the seventh straight year that Carolina has won at least one postseason series.
Hall, 33, acquired in a blockbuster January deal that included Mikko Rantanen‘s arrival, scored the first of Carolina’s four second-period goals that helped it erase a 3-0 deficit before winning in double overtime. He’s a 15-year veteran who won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in the 2017-18 season.
“Taylor has proven to be an outstanding fit for our team, and we are thrilled that he is excited to make Raleigh his home for another three seasons,” general manager Eric Tulsky said in a statement. “He’s been a solid veteran presence in the locker room and a difference maker on the ice.”
Hall had 18 goals and 24 assists in 77 regular-season games between Chicago and Carolina, and also had two assists in the five-game series win against New Jersey. He had missed most of the previous season due to knee surgery and was making $6 million this year with free agency looming, then led Carolina skaters with four power-play goals in the regular season after his arrival.
The Hurricanes acquired the 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick on Jan. 24 in the three-team deal that snagged Rantanen from Colorado, though they later sent Rantanen to Dallas with forward Logan Stankoven as the primary trade-deadline return when it became clear Rantanen was unlikely to sign long-term to stay with Carolina.
Hall and Tulsky are scheduled to address reporters by Zoom later Wednesday.
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Greg Wyshynski
Utah Hockey Club officials wouldn’t confirm whether “Mammoth” was their new name after it allegedly leaked on the team’s official YouTube channel Tuesday night.
Fans and media noticed that the channel’s handle was changed from “@UtahHockeyClub” to “@UtahMammoth,” on both its landing page and URL. The channel was soon deactivated and remained so on Wednesday morning, but not before screenshots of the name change went viral.
Utah Mammoth was one of three finalists featured in a fan vote at Delta Center to help determine the permanent name of the team, which played its inaugural season in 2024-25 after SEG purchased and relocated the former Arizona Coyotes franchise. Fans voted with iPads located at stations around the arena that featured the names, logos and potential branding for each option.
Originally, the three names voted on were Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Wasatch, which was quickly swapped out for Utah Outlaws after the team saw early vote returns.
Mammoth made the final four in the initial fan vote last year.
Utah HC executives wouldn’t confirm or deny that Mammoth will be the team’s new nickname.
Mike Maughan, an executive with Utah HC owner Smith Entertainment Group, said on Wednesday that “progress continues on exploring all three of the name options that were chosen as finalists by our fans. We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season and look forward to sharing that with our fans when we do.”
When pressed for an explanation on the alleged YouTube leak, Maughan would only say, “We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season.”
One NHL source told ESPN that the revelation for the team’s new name and logo could come before the NHL draft in late June. This year’s draft is a “decentralized” event, meaning that teams will be making selections from their own sites rather than in one central location. That opens the door for Utah to have an event in Salt Lake City with team officials around the draft.
In other Utah HC news, the team announced Wednesday that Delta Center, home to Utah HC and the Utah Jazz, will be undergoing a renovation to optimize hockey sightlines while maintaining the proximity of basketball fans to the court using a state-of-the-art retractable seating system. It’s a multiyear project that will also create a new main entrance and outdoor plaza.
The first-of-its-kind seating system accommodates a nearly 12-foot variance in elevation between rink and court endlines to offer optimal sightlines for both the NBA and NHL. Every seat in the lower bowl will have a complete view of the ice at the start of next season — the team estimates that 400 seats currently can only see one goal net during games.
The new hockey configuration adds capacity behind the goals and above and around the event tunnels on the north and south side of the lower bowl and improves access to seating behind the boards.
When all renovations are complete, seating capacity for hockey will increase from 11,131 to approximately 17,000 — with every seat in the upper and lower bowls having full views of both goals — and capacity for basketball will increase from 18,206 to nearly 19,000 seats.
“Delta Center was built for basketball. When you come and put the size of an ice sheet in that venue with those sight lines, the geometry just doesn’t work. So that’s where you come up with the riser system configuration. You come up with raising the floor 2 feet,” said Jim Olson, president of the Jazz and executive representing SEG on all facilities projects.
“We are absolutely protecting the basketball experience, but then also creating a great hockey experience where all the seats can see all the ice,” he said.
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