The Blue Jays went home to face the Texas Rangers in a three game series and they hoped to win a few games in the process. Their first game had the Jays’ Esmil Rogers against the young Rangers starter, Nick Tepesch. The Rangers drew first blood thanks to an Adrian Beltre RBI single in the top of the first that however it was the only run the Rangers could get.
The Jays tied the game in the 4th with a Melky Cabrera solo homerun, his third of the season. The bottom of the 6th is when Toronto took the lead, with a 2 RBI double by Edwin Encarnacion making it 3-1. Adam Lind and JP Arencibia each hit sac flies to bring in two more runs. With another run score in the 7th inning the Toronto Blue Jays went on to win the game 6-1.
The Jays pitching was fantastic only allowing 4 hits and 1 run in the entire game. Neil Wagner earned his first win of the season coming out of the bullpen. Esmil Rogers went 4.0 innings with 3 hits and 1 run against with 6 strikeouts. On the Rangers side, Tepesch got his 5th loss of the season going 7.0 innings with 5 hits, 6 runs against and managed to strikeout 6.
The second game of the series became a historical game for the Toronto Blue Jays, as the team beat the Rangers 4-3, but it took 18 innings to win. The 18-inning victory tied the franchise record, which was set in 2005 when Toronto would be the LA Angels in 18 innings. Fun fact – John Gibbons was the manager of that game as well.
The Blue Jays scored the first three runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning thanks to a Colby Rasmus triple that drove in Encarnacion and Adam Lind, then a throwing would allow Rasmus to score on the same play making it a 3-0 ballgame. Jeff Bakers solo shot in the 7th made the game a bit closer for the Texas Rangers and in the top of the ninth inning the worst thing happened, they figured out Toronto’s closer Casey Janssen scoring two runs off of him in the 9th inning. As mentioned before the Jays and Rangers would duke it out until the bottom of the 18th where Rajai Davis won the game with a single that drove in Emilio Banifacio.
Not a bad win for the Blue Jays, although Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish struck out seven, though the Jays team managed to score three runs and not get over powered by him. Ross Wolf earned the loss, but he pitched 6.2 innings in the extra frames.
Mark Buehrle seems like he cannot buy a win if he tried, and his record for the season is 2-4 in thirteen games started. He had a great game only allowing 4 hits and 1 run striking out three; unfortunately the blown save took away his win. Hopefully next time he pitches the team can win it for him. He has been pitching great lately and deserves a win, or two. Aaron Loup earned the win, which was his third of the season. Brad Lincoln pitched four strong innings, but after the game was sent to Toronto’s triple A Buffalo Bisons.
The third and final game the Jays were looking to sweep the Rangers and win their fourth game in a row. Unfortunately that would not happen as they lost the game to the Rangers 6-4. This was a game where the bullpen did not help Toronto in securing a victory.
The Jays scored all their runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. First off was Edwin Encarnacion who hit an RBI single and then Adam hit a three-run homerun to make the lead 4-0 in favor of the Blue Jays. After the four runs were scored against Texas, the Rangers finally decided to take over the game and score at least a run in every inning except the ninth inning. This would prove costly for Toronto, as the Rangers would score 6 runs in five innings to prevent the sweep.
Josh Johnson was the starter for he Jays, and had a decent game going; 5 innings with 5 hits and 3 runs against him, walked 4 and struck out 4 for the no decision. Juan Perez was given a blown save, although you could easily blame Josh Tholes’ throwing error for the blown save. Neil Wagner was credited for the loss and Dustin McGowan had the final run of the game scored against him. Good news that the Jays won the series in the end. The bad news is that the winning streak is over. Next series the Blue Jays are in Chicago to face the White Sox.
Nicks Notes:
Chien-Ming Wang opted out of his Yankees contract and signed with the Blue Jays. He will start on Tuesday for Toronto. Hopefully he pitches 5-6 strong innings and helps relax the Jays bullpen and rotation just a bit.
Henry Blanco was designated for assignment, so Josh Thole will catch for Dickey
The Rangers series drew a large amount of fans 36,010, 44,079, 42,722 a total of 122 811 fans went to see the Blue birds over the weekend. Great numbers and yes I realize there were some promos, but big crowds in baseball make the game even more special. I wish I were in Toronto for some of the games!
Adam Lind has been a star this season for the Jays in the series he has gone 6-13 with 2 runs scored, a homerun and 4 RBIs. His average at the end of the series is now an amazing 340, he has to be an All-Star this season especially if he keeps up that average!
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photo credit: mikelachance816 via photopin cc
