Rangers 13, Blue Jays 8
ARLINGTON, Texas. (Sep 17) — The Texas Rangers won their series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, 13–8, on Tuesday evening in front of a crowd of 29,906. Leody Taveras and Wyatt Langford each had home runs in the high-scoring affair. the Rangers will go for the series win in this three-game set on Wednesday night with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Bowden Francis (8–4, 3.50 ERA) will take the mound for the Blue Jays, while the Rangers will counter with lefty Cody Bradford (5–3, 3.97 ERA).
Quick Lead for Jays
The Blue Jays grabbed an early lead in the top of the first off Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi. George Springer led off with a single to center. After Bo Bichette struck out swinging, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. moved Springer to second with a single to right. Spencer Horwitz flied to left with Alejandro Kirk on deck. A sharp double by Kirk scored Springer. The Blue Jays extended their lead to 2–0 on an infield single by Ernie Clement that was out of reach for Josh Jung at third. Guerrero scored on the play.
The Blue Jays added another run in the top of the second. After Leo Jimenez grounded to third, Springer lined a triple out to right that eluded Adolis Garcia. Next up was Bo Bichette, who singled to third, leaving Springer frozen in place. He raced home moments later when Guerrero hit a double out to right.
Rangers Claw Back
The Rangers scored two runs in the bottom of the third against Blue Jays righty Chris Bassitt. With two outs in the frame, Josh Smith singled to left and stole second on a close tag play at second. The Rangers challenged the call with the replay showing that Smith reached the bag under the tag with time to spare, and the ruling was overturned. On deck was Langford, who plated Smith with a double to left. Up next was Garcia, who reached on an E1, scoring Langford in the process.
The Rangers made a drastic turnaround in the bottom of the fourth. Jung led off by drawing a walk, and Taveras nudged him over to second with a single to left. Moments later, Justin Foscue reached on a fielder’s choice and a throwing error by Clement at third, allowing Jung to score.
A hit-by-pitch to Marcus Semien advanced Foscue to second. There was a slight delay on the field as trainers tended to Bassitt on the mound. It was determined that he was fine and play resumed. Taveras crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly to center by Smith, giving the Rangers a 4–3 lead. Up next was Langford, who drew a free pass. Garcia drove in Foscue and Semien and advanced Langford to third with a single to right. On deck was Nathaniel Lowe, who scored Langford with a single to center.
Back and Forth
The Blue Jays tied things up in the top of the fifth. Guerrero and Horwitz opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Eovaldi walked Kirk to advance both runners. Guerrero scored on a double play grounded into by Clement. Up next was Nathan Lukes, who plated Horwitz with a single to left. That brought Davis Schneider to the plate, who proceeded to send one over the fence in left-center for his 13th homer of the season to tie it 7–7.
The Rangers took a 9–7 lead in the bottom of the sixth off Blue Jays reliever Tommy Nance. A leadoff single by Garcia set the table. He moved into scoring position when Nance issued a free pass to Lowe. Both Garcia and Lowe scored on a single to right by Jonah Heim, and Jung advanced to third on the play.
Rangers Pile On
The Rangers scored once more in the bottom of the seventh against Blue Jays reliever Brendon Little. The run came on Langford’s 13th home run of the season, a solo shot to the seats in right.
The Blue Jays tacked on another run in the top of the eighth off Rangers reliever David Robertson. After Lukes flied to left to lead things off, Schneider singled sharply to center. He moved to second on a hit-by-pitch to Jimenez. Springer flied to center to send Schneider to third and a single back to the mound by Bichette allowed him to score the Blue Jays’ eighth run of the evening.
The Rangers added on more insurance in the bottom of the eighth off Blue Jays reliever Luis Frias. Jung struck out swinging to lead off the inning, bringing up Heim. A double to center put Heim in scoring position for Taveras, who blasted his 11th dinger of the season beyond the Rangers’ bullpen in right-center.
The Rangers were able to score one more in this long inning. Semien drew a walk and advanced to second on a swinging strikeout by Smith that got past Kirk behind the plate. Smith reached first on what was ruled a wild pitch. Moments later, Langford drew a walk to load the bases. Up next was Garcia, who forced in a run with a walk of his own.
What Went Right for the Rangers
The Rangers had the baseball equivalent of an everything bagel on Tuesday. They used power and contact to put this one in the win column. The home runs by Taveras and Langford were crucial. The RBI base hit by Lowe, the sacrifice fly by Smith and the bases-loaded walk to Garcia helped as well.
What Went Wrong for the Rangers
The Blue Jays kept finding ways to score in the series opener. There were the RBI hits by Kirk and Clement in the top of the first. They consistently found ways to get into scoring position. When you’re doing that, you can be hard to beat.
Eovaldi Allows Seven
Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi took a no-decision on Tuesday evening. He allowed a season-high seven runs, all earned on a career-high 11 hits. Eovaldi was ultimately undone by the four-run fifth inning that saw him yield the game-tying two-run shot to Schneider on what was his final pitch of his outing. He departed with two outs in the fifth in favor of Matt Festa, who recorded the final out of the inning via strikeout.
Festa earned his fifth win of the season after tossing an inning and a third in which he walked one and struck out two. His record for 2024 now sits at 5–1 with an ERA of 7.02.
Bassitt’s Evening
Like Eovaldi, Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt also took a no-decision on Tuesday. He exited with his team trailing, 7–3, with two outs in the fourth. His final line was 3 2/3 IP, 6 H, 7 R-1 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO, 80 pitches/48 strikes. Tuesday marked the most unearned runs allowed by a Blue Jays pitcher in a single game since Taijuan Walker on September 15, 2020 against the New York Yankees. That night, he pitched an inning and two-thirds while surrendering, seven runs, one of which was earned.
After the Rangers made it 9–7 in the sixth, Nance shouldered his second loss of the year. He gave up two runs, both earned, on three hits. Nance walked one and struck out one, and his record now sits at 0–2 with an ERA of 3.86.
Bochy’s Postgame Comments
After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy discussed what he saw from his offense on Tuesday. “Throughout the order, everybody had something going,” Bochy said. “Wyatt (Langford) had a great day. He got on base five times, and there was a lot of clutch hitting. Good two-strike hitting from Doli (Adolis Garcia). The whole lineup just kept things moving and we needed it.”
Eovaldi’s Postgame Comments
After Bochy exited the interview room, Eovaldi gave his thoughts on his start from Tuesday. “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 the Rangers for 2025. He triggered that option after he finished the fourth inning. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”
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