Blue Jays 11, Rangers 7
ARLINGTON, Texas, Sep 10 — Despite having plenty of scoring opportunities, the Texas Rangers fell to the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday by a final score of 11–7. The Rangers had home runs from Adolis Garcia and Sam Huff, but it wasn’t enough to mount a full comeback in front of a crowd of 28,340 at Globe Life Field. The third and final game of this series is set for Sunday afternoon at 1:35 PM Central. Right-hander Trevor Richards (3–1, 4.72 ERA) will make the start for the Blue Jays. The Rangers will be sending left-hander Martin Perez (10–6, 2.82 ERA) to the mound in the Sunday matinee.
Blue Jays’ Offense
The Blue Jays’ scoring started almost immediately. In the top of the first inning, Toronto DH Alejandro Kirk lined a double to centerfield that drove in George Springer, and Bo Bichette. Moments later, Kirk and Matt Chapman were driven in on a single by second baseman Santiago Espinal. Their next two runs came in the top half of the third inning. A double to short by Espinal was enough to bring Cavan Biggio home. It wouldn’t stop there, however.
The score would become 8–3 later in the inning on a three-run homer by left-fielder Raimel Tapia. Espinal and Danny Jansen were the men on base at that point in time. At this point, it seemed as if the inning just wouldn’t stop. The Blue Jays scored their ninth run of the evening on a double to right field by Bo Bichette. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. scored on the play. Their final two runs came in the top half of the fourth inning courstesy of a two-run shot by Danny Jansen.
Rangers’ Offense
The Rangers made things interesting as the game went on, but they ultimately fell short on Saturday evening. They answered Toronto’s four-run first inning with a three-run home run by outfielder Adolis Garcia in the bottom of the first inning. It was Garcia’s 24th long ball of the season. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Rangers catcher Sam Huff put two more runs on the board for the Rangers with a home run of his own. It was his second of the year. Two batters later, Bubba Thompson drove in Josh Smith with a double.
They also scored their seventh run of the evening in the bottom of the sixth inning. Bubba Thompson crossed the plate on a single to centerfield by second baseman Marcus Semien.
Pitching Notes
Right-hander Kohei Arihara started the middle game for the Rangers on Saturday. Arihara suffered his third loss of the season. He allowed career highs in hits (12), runs (11), earned runs (11), walks (5), and extra-base hits (8) over three innings. Arihara surrendered multiple runs in the first (4), third (5), and fourth (2) frames. He became the first Rangers pitcher to permit 11+ runs in a single outing since Austin Bibens-Dirkx on July 21, 2018 against the Cleveland Indians (4.0 IP, 13 H, 11 R-ER).
Arihara was tagged for eight extra-base hits on Saturday (two HR, 6 2B). This matched the club record for extra base hits allowed (5x, last Bibens-Dirkx on 7/21/18 vs. CLE). Saturday’s start boosted his season ERA from 5.29 to 9.45 (22 R-21 ER/20.0 IP). Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman improved to 12–9 on the year after picking up his first win against the Rangers this season (1–0, 7.06 ERA (8 ER/10.2 IP). He collected nine strikeouts, marking the ninth time he has struck out nine or more batters in a start this season (one shy of tying last year’s career-high mark of 10) His five earned runs given up on Saturday tie a season high (4x, last 8/14 vs. CLE). His 2.07 road ERA coming into this start ranked third among AL starters (1.63-Dylan Cease, 1.78-Justin Verlander).
Additional Notes
The Rangers have lost three straight, including each of the first two games of this weekend series againstToronto (0–2). Saturday marks their fifth consecutive series loss. They have gone 1–12 over their last 13 games dating back to August 27. They have lost six straight at home (beg. 8/27). They are one shy of matching longest losing skid ever at Globe Life Field (seven from 7/14-8/3/22). Saturday’s loss secured the defeat in season series against the Blue Jays (1–4). The Rangers have not won a season series against the Blue Jays since 2012 (6–3).
Adolis Garcia served as the designated hitter on Saturday. He did not start each of the team’s last two games. Garcia registered a career-high 113.0 mph exit velocity on his homer. This matched a line out by Nathaniel Lowe on April 10 in Toronto for the hardest-hit batted ball by a Ranger this season (Statcast). Garcia added a 112.1 mph single in the third inning. By doing this, he becomes just the third Texas batter (sixth instance) in the Statcast era (beg. 2015) to produce multiple batted balls with exit velocities of 112.0+ mph in one game (also Joey Gallo 3x, Nomar Mazara 2x). His team-high 87 RBI are just 3 shy of tying his career high (90 in 2021), and 46 RBI at home are also most among Rangers.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
Players Mentioned:
Adolis Garcia, Sam Huff, Trevor Richards, Martin Perez, Alejandro Kirk, George Springer, Bo Bichette, Matt Chapman, Santiago Espinal, Cavan Biggio, Raimel Tapia, Danny Jansen, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bubba Thompson, Josh Smith, Marcus Semien, Kohei Arihara, Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Justin Verlander, Nathaniel Lowe, Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara
