MLB

Toronto Blue Jays at Texas Rangers

· Major League Baseball
Toronto Blue Jays
72-79, 34-42 Away
Final
8 - 13
Texas Rangers
72-79, 42-34 Home

Langford and Taveras homer, struggling Heim has key hit as Rangers beat Blue Jays 13-8

Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.

Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.

“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”

Heim was 1 for 34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBI after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBI. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.

Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.

Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.

Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).

“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”

Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.

Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.

Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.

How can I watch Toronto Blue Jays vs. Texas Rangers?
  • TV Channel: Blue Jays at Rangers 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
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Matchup Prediction

Rangers: 57.2%
Blue Jays: 42.8%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Schneider flied out to shortstop.
9th Inning Lukes walked, Kirk to second.
9th Inning Clement popped out to shortstop.
9th Inning Kirk walked.
9th Inning Horwitz flied out to left.
9th Inning Yates relieved Robertson

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
1 Hit By Pitch 1
11 Ground Balls 12
6 Strikeouts 9
7 Runs Batted In 11
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
13 Hits 13
0 Stolen Bases 2
5 Walks 9
0 Catcher Interference 0
8 Runs 13
1 Ground Into Double Play 0
0 Sacrifice Flies 1
38 At Bats 39
1 Home Runs 2
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
19 Runners Left On Base 23
1 Triples 0
0 Game Winning RBIs 1
0 Intentional Walks 0
2 Doubles 3
21 Fly Balls 19
0 Caught Stealing 0
169 Pitches 206
0 Games Started 0
0 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
0 Is Qualified In Steals 1
20 Total Bases 22
44 Plate Appearances 50
162.0 Projected Home Runs 324.0
4 Extra Base Hits 5
8.3 Runs Created 11.0
.342 Batting Average .333
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.526 Slugging Percentage .564
.316 Secondary Average .513
.432 On Base Percentage .460
.958 OBP Pct + SLG Pct 1.024
0.5 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.6
8.6 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 11.0
52.5 Batter Rating 75.0
38.0 At Bats Per Home Run 19.5
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
3.84 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.12
.184 Isolated Power .231
0.83 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 1.00
.114 Walks Per Plate Appearance .180
-.026 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average .179
15.0 Runs Produced 24.0
0.9 Runs Ratio 0.8
0.6 Patience Ratio 0.7
0.4 Balls In Play Average 0.4
100.8 MLB Rating 112.5
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Globe Life Field

Location: Arlington, Texas
Attendance: 29,906 | 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