MLB

Toronto Blue Jays at Texas Rangers

· Major League Baseball
Toronto Blue Jays
39-32, 20-19 Away
Final
2 - 1
Texas Rangers
42-27, 22-13 Home

Jansen homers again as the Blue Jays beat slumping AL West-leading Texas 2-1

“Just a guy that everybody’s rooting for and has such a unique swing, and no batting glove. It’s just everything about him is pretty unique. He’s bald, but he wears a headband, and so there’s just a lot of kind of weird things," Gausman said. "But, man, he can really hit, and he always seems to get big hits for us when we need it.”

Jansen homered for the third time in two games for Toronto's only runs, backing up six innings by Gausman to win his fourth consecutive decision, as the Blue Jays beat the slumping AL West-leading Texas Rangers 2-1 on Friday night.

Martín Pérez (6-3) walked Matt Chapman starting the fifth before Jansen hit his ninth homer, a 385-foot drive that just cleared the left-field wall. Jansen has gone deep six times in his last 12 games, though it was only his fourth game since coming off the injured list Tuesday after missing 2 1/2 weeks with a left groin strain.

“His swing is on point,” manager John Schneider said. “He's in his career really, where he’s just comfortable with it, and he's always been a really good fastball hitter. You don’t really need that much of a tune up coming off the IL when you can be on top of the heater.”

A day earlier, Jansen hit two solo homers for Toronto's only runs in a 4-2 loss at Baltimore.

Gausman (6-3) struck out four to increase his AL-high total to 121 while allowing one run and four hits over six innings. The right-hander is 4-0 in his last eight starts. Jordan Romano, the third Blue Jays reliever, got four outs for his 20th save in 23 chances.

Leody Taveras homered leading off the third for the Rangers (42-27), who lost for the seventh time in nine games. It was the No. 9 hitter's seventh homer this season, all in 39 games since the start of May.

After going 9-for-49 (.184) with runners in scoring position while losing three of four in their series against the Los Angeles Angels, the Rangers were 0-for-9 in that situation against Toronto.

“That's the story of the game, we just couldn't get a hit with a runner in scoring position,” Texas manager Brue Bochy said. “We're just going through a very tough patch. ... But I don't think they're doing anything different. Could they be pressing a little bit? Maybe, because they care. They want to win.”

GIVING UP LONG BALLS

Pérez has already allowed 12 homers in his 14 starts. There were only 11 long balls off him in 32 starts last season when he was a first-time All-Star. After giving up 14 runs over 15 innings his previous three starts, Pérez limited the Blue Jays to two runs on their only three hits over six innings. He struck out three and walked one.

IN THE PEN

Rangers relievers Joe Barlow, Grant Anderson and Jose Leclerc combined to retire the nine batters they faced, each throwing a scoreless inning. Barlow struck out all three batters in the seventh.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: RHP Zach Pop, on the injured list since May 5 with a right hamstring strain, is scheduled to throw in a game Saturday for Class-A Dunedin.

Rangers: RHP Jon Gray is expected to start the series finale Sunday. He was skipped in his last scheduled turn in the rotation Tuesday because of a blister. He is 5-1 with a 0.84 ERA in his last six starts, including 12 strikeouts in a 100-pitch complete game when losing 1-0 to St. Louis on June 7.

DEFENSE GEMS

Texas 2B Marcus Semien had a couple of standout defensive plays. He made a backhanded stop with his momentum taking him the other way before a strong throw to get Jansen out at first to end the second inning. Semien made a sliding grab on Vladimir Guerrero's grounder up the middle in the sixth, then got up and threw him out at first.

BLUE JAYS MOVES

Toronto RHP Adam Cimber returned from the paternity list and 1B/OF Spencer Horwitz was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo. The Blue Jays optioned RHP Thomas Hatch and OF Nathan Lukes to Buffalo.

UP NEXT

Rangers right-hander Dane Dunning (5-1, 2.76 ERA) starts the middle game of the series Saturday. The Blue Jays are going with a bullpen day.

How can I watch Toronto Blue Jays vs. Texas Rangers?
  • TV Channel: Blue Jays at Rangers 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Rangers: 55.3%
Blue Jays: 44.7%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Jankowski grounded out to shortstop.
9th Inning Garver struck out swinging.
9th Inning Heim struck out swinging.
9th Inning Kirk struck out swinging.
9th Inning Guerrero Jr. grounded out to shortstop.
9th Inning Bichette grounded out to third.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/tor.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTOR https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/tex.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTEX
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 0
13 Ground Balls 10
7 Strikeouts 8
2 Runs Batted In 1
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
3 Hits 6
0 Stolen Bases 1
2 Walks 3
0 Catcher Interference 0
2 Runs 1
1 Ground Into Double Play 0
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
30 At Bats 32
1 Home Runs 1
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
7 Runners Left On Base 15
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
1 Doubles 3
10 Fly Balls 14
0 Caught Stealing 0
123 Pitches 136
0 Games Started 0
1 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
0 Is Qualified In Steals 1
7 Total Bases 12
32 Plate Appearances 35
162.0 Projected Home Runs 162.0
2 Extra Base Hits 4
0.2 Runs Created 3.4
.100 Batting Average .188
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.233 Slugging Percentage .375
.200 Secondary Average .313
.156 On Base Percentage .257
.390 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .632
1.3 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.7
0.2 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 3.5
16.0 Batter Rating 20.0
30.0 At Bats Per Home Run 32.0
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
3.84 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 3.89
.133 Isolated Power .188
0.29 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.38
.063 Walks Per Plate Appearance .086
.100 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average .125
4.0 Runs Produced 2.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.3 Patience Ratio 0.4
0.1 Balls In Play Average 0.2
65.0 MLB Rating 71.5
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Globe Life Field

Location: Arlington, Texas
Attendance: 34,308 | Capacity:

2024 American League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
New York 94 68 .580 - W1
Baltimore 91 71 .562 3 W3
Boston 81 81 .500 13 W1
Tampa Bay 80 82 .494 14 L1
Toronto 74 88 .457 20 L3

2024 American League West Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 88 73 .547 - W2
Seattle 85 77 .525 3.5 W4
Texas 78 84 .481 10.5 W3
Oakland 69 93 .426 19.5 L3
Los Angeles 63 99 .389 25.5 L6
Full Standings