The struggling Texas Rangers will look for some relief Saturday afternoon when they try to avoid a series loss against the host Toronto Blue Jays.
The Rangers’ relievers struggled in the opener of the three-game series, wasting a scoreless five-inning start from Jacob deGrom in a 6-5 loss on Friday.
“The bullpen,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “Rough day for them. There is not much else to say.”
deGrom, who was lost each of his previous three starts, said, “We made the decision to come out in the fifth. Looking back, I probably wish I had gone out there to give the bullpen a little bit more so they wouldn’t have had to cover as many innings. It’s a tough loss. We’ve got to regroup.”
Toronto got on the board in the seventh against Robert Garcia when Alejandro Kirk hit a two-run homer. The Blue Jays scored four in the eighth against the combination of Danny Coulombe and Phil Maton, with Kirk’s two-run single providing the winning margin.
“There’s zero quit in these guys,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “They kind of look forward to the challenge at this point. It’s fun to be a part of, it’s fun to watch them operate. And, you know, it’s, it’s a really, really good atmosphere here.
“It’s loud, man. It’s definitely an advantage playing here, and it gets louder every night.”
The Rangers took their third loss in a row and fell for the seventh time in eight games. They dropped one game below .500 while damaging their hopes at landing an American League wild-card spot. They are now 4 1/2 games out of the final playoff position.
In its previous game, Texas lost on Wednesday night when the Arizona Diamondbacks scored four runs in the ninth.
“You play 162 games,” Coulombe said. “That’s a lot of games. Nobody is going to be perfect all year. That’s a really good bullpen and we’ll just keep going.”
After Kirk singled, the slow-moving catcher rubbed it in by stealing the first base of his career. The steal attempt was the first of his 532-game major league career.
“He’s catching Rickey (Henderson) slowly, I think,” quipped Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt, who allowed three runs in five innings. “He’s just got to play a little longer.”
The Rangers are scheduled to start left-hander Patrick Corbin (6-8, 4.00 ERA) on Saturday in an effort to level the set. He is 1-2 with a 5.48 ERA in four career starts against Toronto.
The Blue Jays are expected to start left-hander Eric Lauer (7-2, 2.82). He is 0-0 with a 2.16 ERA in two career games (one start) against Texas. Lauer threw 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief versus the Rangers on May 28.
The first-place Blue Jays maintained their five-game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the American League East with the Friday win.
Toronto should have George Springer back from a concussion sometime during the series. Through two games on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Buffalo, the four-time All-Star is 2-for-5 with a homer. Springer has been sidelined since late July.
Shane Bieber could join the Blue Jays’ rotation next week. The right-hander fired seven scoreless innings for Buffalo on Friday, allowing six hits and no walks with four strikeouts. Bieber, working his way back from Tommy John surgery, has a 1.86 ERA in seven minor league starts this year.
Bochy juggled his lineup on Friday, moving Corey Seager from second to third in the order and shifting Marcus Semien from third to sixth. Wyatt Langford moved into the No. 2 spot.
Semien hit a two-run homer in the eighth that gave Texas a 5-2 lead, but Langford and Seager both went 0-for-3 with a walk.
“The old adage I keep telling you, keep doing what you’re doing, keep getting what you’re getting,” Bochy said before the game.
–Field Level Media
