Semien drove in a run with a sacrifice fly off of Aaron Civale in the fifth inning that would prove to be the difference in the ballgame. He also doubled with two outs in the seventh inning but was left stranded there. He has picked up the pace offensively in recent weeks, but is still slashing a miserable .224/.305/.336 overall on the season with seven homers, 30 RBI and six stolen bases.

We’re finally seeing some genuine signs of life from Semien. He smoked his homer 104.5 mph and an estimated 424 feet. Four of his seven long balls this season have come in his last 11 games and he sneakily has an .820 OPS over his last 30 games. Perhaps the reports of his demise were overblown.

After dropping to the bottom of the order for a week, Semien has moved back up to the heart of the lineup as he warms up at the dish. Batting cleanup on Saturday against the Nationals, he drove in three of the team’s five runs. Semien doubled to bring home two runs in the first inning, one scoring on an error, then doubled again in the eighth to plate two more. The 34-year-old second baseman has collected multiple hits in four of his last eight games. Semien is hitting .213/.300/.312 with six homers, 22 runs scored, 26 RBI, and five steals across 253 plate appearances.

Semien gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead in the fifth with his first homer of the game, and extended that lead to 3-1 that also gave him six on the season. After a disastrous start to the season, Semien has been much better — and much more inline with his career — and his .210/.298/.308 should continue to climb over the summer months.