Blue Jays 4, Rangers 3
ARLINGTON, Texas, Sep 9 — On a cool and comfortable night in Arlington, the visiting Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers by a final score of 4–3. Despite a solo home run by third baseman Josh Jung in the third inning, the Rangers just couldn’t declare victory. The middle game in this three-game series is set for Saturday evening at 6:05 PM Central. The Blue Jays will send right-hander Kevin Gausman (11–9, 3.12 ERA) to the mound that game. The Rangers will hand the ball to Kohei Arihara (1–2, 5.29 ERA).
Blue Jays’ Offense
The Blue Jays got an early 1–0 lead in the top half of the first inning. Bo Bichette grounded into a force out that drove in George Springer. The score would remain 1–0 until the top of the third inning. A two-run home run by Bichette promptly made it 3–0 in favor of the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays wouldn’t score again until the top of the ninth inning. They broke a 3–3 tie with a single by Danny Jansen that drove in Raimel Tapia. That would be all the offense that the Blue Jays would need to put this one in the win column.
Special Night for Jung
The Rangers answered back in the bottom of the third inning. There was already a noticeable buzz among the 21,329 in attendance on this night. The Rangers’ top prospect Josh Jung was making his major league debut, and he made quite a splash right off the bat (pun intended). Jung put the Rangers on the board with a solo home run to make it 3–1 in favor of the Blue Jays in the bottom of the third inning. After that happened, sound became visible. The atmosphere was electric.
Josh Jung had just hit a home run in his very first major league at-bat. With this home run, Jung becomes the second player in Rangers history to hit a home run in his first major league at-bat. The only other to do it was Jurickson Profar on September 2, 2012 against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. It was an amazing moment that the young third baseman will never forget. To add icing on the cake, the Rangers cut the Blue Jays’ lead to 3–2 on a single by Corey Seager that drove in Marcus Semien in the bottom of the sixth inning. With that base hit, Seager snapped an 0–for–25 skid. Seager drove in the tying run as well. He did this on an double in the bottom of the eighth inning that allowed Bubba Thompson to score.
Pitching Notes
Right-hander Dane Dunning started this one for the Rangers on Friday. Dunning exited in a two-out, bases-loaded jam while trailing 3–1 in the 6th inning. He finished just one out shy of recording his 11th quality start of the season. Dunning was lifted in favor of Dennis Santana, who retired Santiago Espinal (pop out to third base) to end the threat. Dunning, a former Blue Jays draft selection in 2013 (34th roundd.), did not issue a free pass until walking two of the last three batters he faced in the sixth inning, as he needed just 76 pitches to complete five frames before making 21 offerings in the sixth inning.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
Players Mentioned:
Josh Jung, Kevin Gausman, Kohei Arihara, Bo Bichette, George Springer, Danny Jansen, Raimel Tapia, Jurickson Profar, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Bubba Thompson, Dane Dunning, Dennis Santana, Santiago Espinal
