Toronto Blue Jays Struggle in Loss to Texas Rangers
TORONTO – The offence has gone rather quiet for the Toronto Blue Jays at a most inopportune time. The Texas Rangers have
been only too happy to take advantage.
The Blue Jays suffered a 6-3 defeat against Texas on Tuesday night, causing them to fall behind the Rangers in the
American League wild-card standings.
“These guys are looking forward to this series and this challenge,” said Toronto manager John Schneider. “It’s a good team. We just haven’t really strung the hits in a row together so far.”
The top three batters in the Toronto order — George Springer, Bo Bichette, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — were held to just
one hit in 12 at-bats.
Robbie Grossman hit a two-run homer for Texas, and Corey Seager had three hits and scored twice. The Rangers outhit the
Blue Jays 9-7.
Toronto (80-65), now a half-game behind the Rangers, is tied with the Seattle Mariners for the third and final
wild-card spot. The Mariners defeated the Los Angeles Angels 8-0 on Tuesday.
The Rangers (80-64) extended their winning streak to four games. Starter Max Scherzer threw five-plus shutout innings
before leaving the game due to a right triceps spasm.
Texas also secured the tiebreaker advantage over Toronto if the teams finish the season with identical records.
Toronto managed only three hits against Scherzer before he left after his 73rd pitch of the evening. He was scheduled to
undergo an MRI exam on Wednesday.
“When I threw that first curveball to Bichette (in the sixth), it just felt like a charley horse,” Scherzer said. “I could feel I wasn’t going to be able to throw another baseball.”
Scherzer was replaced by Jose Leclerc, who was pulled in the seventh after giving up a leadoff double to Spencer Horwitz
and a sacrifice fly to Davis Schneider.
Cavan Biggio welcomed left-hander Brock Burke with an RBI single that put Toronto on the board.
Santiago Espinal followed with a hit to left-centre field but was called out as he tried to stretch it into a double. The
Blue Jays challenged the call, and it was overturned to the delight of the Rogers Centre crowd of 30,479.
Ernie Clement hit a soft grounder that scored Biggio. Davis Schneider hit a solo shot in the ninth inning for his eighth
homer of the year.
Toronto starter Hyun Jin Ryu (3-3) allowed three earned runs and five hits over a season-high six innings. He had five
strikeouts and gave up one walk.
Scherzer (13-6) struck out a pair and issued one walk.
“I thought we had our pitches to hit, and (we) just didn’t get it done,” Schneider said.
The Blue Jays opened their 10-game homestand with a three-game sweep of the lowly Kansas City Royals. After this
four-game series with Texas, Toronto will host the Boston Red Sox for a three-game weekend set.
The Rangers’ win streak is their longest since an eight-gamer in early August.
Seager’s single in the fourth inning was the 1,000th hit of his career. He scored on Grossman’s ninth home run of the
season.
Left-handers Yusei Kikuchi and Jordan Montgomery are set to face off in Wednesday night’s game as the four-game series
continues.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on September 12, 2023.
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