Seager homers as Rangers top Royals 4-2 to reach .500 for the first time since May 1

Kansas City, Mo. (AP) — Corey Seager homered and singled to lead the Texas Rangers to a 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday.

The Rangers took two of three from the Royals and have won nine of 12 games and four straight series to reach .500 — at 34-34 — for the first time since May 1.

Texas jumped ahead 2-0 on Brandon Nimmo’s RBI double in the first inning and Elias Díaz’s squeeze bunt single in the second.

Leading off the third, Seager hit his ninth home run into the right field bullpen off Royals starter Michael Wacha.

Kansas City loaded the bases to open the fourth against Kumar Rocker and scored a pair of runs on a double-play grounder and Kameron Misner’s RBI single, his first hit with the Royals.

Rocker left with two outs in the fifth after allowing two runs and five hits. Jacob Latz (2-1), the last of three Texas relievers, struck out three in two hitless innings.

Evan Carter's RBI single in the sixth capped the scoring.

Joc Pederson remained out of the Rangers' lineup after leaving Wednesday’s game with left hip discomfort.

Wacha (4-5) allowed four runs and nine hits in seven innings with one walk and two strikeouts. Kansas City has lost six straight games in which Wacha has started by a combined 10 runs. He has received three or fewer runs of support in each start.

Jac Caglianone had two of Kansas City’s six hits. He has reached base safely in 22 of 36 plate appearances in nine June games.

The Royals grounded into three double plays.

Due to the threat of inclement weather, the game’s start was delayed more than two hours.

Rangers: RHP Jack Leiter (3-5, 4.69 ERA) opposes Red Sox RHP Sonny Gray (7-1, 3.20) on Friday in Boston.

Royals: RHP Luinder Avila (1-2, 4.02) faces Houston Astros RHP Tatsuya Imai (3-3, 5.24) on Friday at home.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Members of the Kansas City Royals grounds crew remove the infield tarp after a more than two-hour rain delay before a baseball game against the Texas Rangers in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)

Kansas City Royals pitcher Michael Wacha delivers to a Texas Rangers batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)

Texas Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker delivers to a Kansas City Royals batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)

Texas Rangers' Jake Burger (21) and Ezequiel Duran, right, celebrate after their team's win over the Kansas City Royals in a baseball game in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)

Texas Rangers' Nicky Lopez (33) Ezequiel Duran, center, and Wyatt Langford, right, celebrate at the end of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — Christian Pulisic is the most accomplished and most famous player on his national team at the exact time when his nation is hosting a World Cup.

Only a handful of prominent players in the past few decades have faced this confluence of talent and timing. They include a selection of generational greats: Zinedine Zidane for France in 1998, Michael Ballack for Germany in 2006, Neymar for Brazil in 2014.

Pulisic's U.S. teammates recognize the extraordinary burden he is carrying while the Americans prepare for their World Cup opener Friday night against Paraguay. From the field to the back row of the stands, everyone is looking to Pulisic for leadership and goals, hoping his full decade of international success with club and country will propel a middling soccer nation to new heights on home soil.

“I can't even imagine the weight that's on his shoulders,” teammate Tyler Adams said. “From such a young age, he was the hope of American soccer.”

Pulisic does not shy from the spotlight that will glare more brightly than ever in the next few weeks. In fact, he repeated Thursday that this challenge is “what I've always wanted.”

Now 27 years old, Pulisic has enough achievement and enough faith in his teammates to focus on how far the Americans can go, not how far they might fall.

“I don’t feel a difference in weight,” Pulisic said at the U.S. training base in Orange County. “I’m not sure. Maybe less. I just feel like there’s so many good players around me. I genuinely don’t feel like I have to do anything on my own. I’m going to give it the best I can. I want to help the team, and they expect a lot out of me, but with the guys I have around me, it makes it a lot easier for me.”

Pulisic was already the center of the U.S. hopes and aspirations when this World Cup was awarded to North America eight years ago, and his status hasn't changed. A nation that had struggled to produce elite players finally created a star in this slick, creative midfielder from Hershey, Pennsylvania, who has gone on to a decade of European club success.

National team progress has been more difficult to come by during Pulisic's first decade, but he is still considered the most consistently dynamic player in the American program — despite his 18-month goal drought in a U.S. shirt that only ended May 31.

“Of course he needs to be an important player for us in the competition,” said coach Mauricio Pochettino, who took over the U.S. team in late 2024. “(But) I think what we’ve learned after a year and a half is that the badge of the national team and the culture with this country is more important than any name, any player or any coach. That is a principal thing that we (believe), and from there, if you have talent and quality, you can perform on that platform.”

Adams, the 27-year-old Bournemouth midfielder, has been right alongside Pulisic for most of this ride.

He watched in awe as the 17-year-old Pulisic made his senior U.S. debut in late 2016. Those Americans failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, but Pulisic quickly became a vital component of the group.

“(Pulisic was) the best player on the field at 17 years old, and the person that they rely on, (and) it’s been since then that they’ve relied on him,” Adams said. “Now, we have weapons around him to kind of relieve that, but he’s a star. Not just for the U.S. national team, but in world football. He’s that good. We rely on him in big moments, but that being said, I hope he doesn’t feel the pressure to carry it all. Just to be himself and grow into each game.”

Pulisic became known across the world when he moved from Dortmund to Chelsea in 2019. He was part of the Blues’ Champions League winners in 2021, becoming only the second American to claim the ultimate club trophy, before moving in 2023 to AC Milan, where he remains a vital player for another major club.

Pulisic finally made his World Cup debut four years ago in Qatar, contributing a big goal and an assist — but the U.S. scored just three goals in its four games before going home in the knockout round.

“It feels similar, but with a bit of that comfort of being in America,” Pulisic said of his World Cup return. “It feels great having the people you love around you. It makes it that much more special.”

Pochettino has strived to build an aggressive, attacking team around Pulisic’s talents, thereby minimizing its reliance on its best player. Prolific Europe-based strikers Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi will make their World Cup debuts this month for the U.S., hopefully spreading out the scoring responsibility.

But with his past World Cup experience in mind, Pulisic knows the Americans must step up quickly at home — and their opening matchup against a solid Paraguay team will put him right in the spotlight again.

“It has that big-game feel, for sure,” Pulisic said. “But in some ways, I feel a little bit more relaxed because I've been there before. We've played in a match like this. I think the experience has calmed me down a little bit.”

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

United States' Joe Scally, center, Antonee Robinson, center right, and teammates attend a training session ahead of their FIFA World Cup match against Paraguay at its World Cup soccer tournament training base in Irvine, Calif., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

United States goalkeeper Chris Brady practices during a training session ahead of his FIFA World Cup match against Paraguay at its World Cup soccer tournament training base in Irvine, Calif., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

United States' Weston McKennie, center, and teammates attend a training session ahead of their FIFA World Cup match against Paraguay at its World Cup soccer tournament training base in Irvine, Calif., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Germany midfielder Aleksandar Pavlović, left, tackles the ball from United States forward Christian Pulisic during the first half of an international friendly soccer match in Chicago, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

United States' Christian Pulisic attends a training session ahead of his FIFA World Cup match against Paraguay at its World Cup soccer tournament training base in Irvine, Calif., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)