Josh Smith News: Moved to leadoff

Smith batted leadoff and went 1-for-4 with a walk, a home run, an RBI and an additional run scored in Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Athletics.

Among the several lineup tweaks made by Texas manager Bruce Bochy, Smith was moved to the leadoff spot with Marcus Semien being dropped to fifth. The move, designed to fix a struggling offense, paid off for at least one night. The lineup and batting order tweaks came against a right-hander, and it's uncertain if Bochy will continue the practice against lefties. That will be determined Wednesday when the Rangers face southpaw JP Sears. One thing for certain is that Smith is hitting well out of the gates and getting his bat in the lineup is needed. He started in center field in place of Leody Taveras on Tuesday and eventually moved to shortstop when Corey Seager was removed due to a hamstring injury. In the past, Smith has been the primary fill-in at short whenever Seager dealt with an injury.