Rangers Blank Blue Jays in Middle Game

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

September 18, 2024

Rangers 2, Blue Jays 0

ARLINGTON, Texas (Sep. 18) — The Texas Rangers walked away with the series win, beating the Toronto Blue Jays, 2–0, on Wednesday night in front of a crowd of 34,625. Adolis Garcia provided all of the offense with a two-run shot in the sixth. Compared to Tuesday’s three hour and twenty-eight minute marathon, this game had a brisk runtime of two hours and ten minutes. The Rangers will aim for the three-game sweep on Thursday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Kevin Gausman (12–11, 4.02 ERA) will get the ball for the Blue Jays, while fellow righty Kumar Rocker (0–0, 2.25 ERA) will make the first Globe Life Field start of his young career.

Garcia Breaks Silence

Both teams traded zeroes for the first five and a half innings. The Rangers broke the stalemate in the bottom of the sixth against Blue Jays righty Bowden Francis. A leadoff single to left by Wyatt Langford set the table for Garcia, who hit a two-run line-drive homer out to left, barely clearing the wall. It was Garcia’s 23rd long ball of the season. Garcia also chipped in on defense when he robbed Addison Barger of a leadoff home run with a dazzling catch at the wall in right in the top of the third.

What Went Right for the Rangers

Garcia put runs on the board, and he kept them off it as well on Wednesday. He’s the type of player that makes fans drop whatever they’re doing whenever he’s batting or when the ball is hit in his direction. He also showed off his throwing arm by keeping Alejandro Kirk at third on what otherwise would have been a sacrifice fly by Ernie Clement.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

In a game like this, it’s hard to pinpoint what went wrong for a team who did everything right. The only flaw in their performance was that Bradford allowed five hits, but he stranded them all.

Seven Strong Innings for Bradford

Rangers left-hander Cody Bradford earned the win after posting seven scoreless frames, which marks the longest scoreless start of his career. His final line was 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 90 pitches/61 strikes. In his outing on Wednesday, Bradford became the second Rangers left-hander since the beginning of 2019 to author a start of seven or more scoreless frames without allowing any walks. Martín Pérez did it on June 31, 2022 against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Bradford has gone 6–3 with a 3.06 ERA, 64 strikeouts, and nine walks across 12 starts this season. He is the first Rangers pitcher since Cliff Lee from July 10 to September 12, 2010 to post 60 or more strikeouts and nine or fewer walks in a 12-start span.

After tossing a spotless ninth with two strikeouts, closer Kirby Yates earned his 31st save of the season.

Right-hander David Robertson pitched an almost identical frame in the bottom of the eighth. The only difference between that inning and Yates’ inning was Robertson striking out two batters. Both Robertson and Yates have been great at the back end of the Rangers’ bullpen this year. The club boasts a record of 60–15 (.800) when both of them pitch in the same game.

Bowden’s Outing

Blue Jays starter Bowden Francis shouldered his fifth loss of the campaign despite picking up a quality start with six strong innings of two-run ball. He cruised through five scoreless before allowing back-to-back hits leading off the sixth to Langford and García, accounting for the only damage against him on the evening.

Over his last nine starts, Bowden has posted a 1.96 ERA with seven walks and 54 strikeouts. According to Stathead, he became the second hurler in Blue Jays history to record a sub-2.00 ERA, 54+ strikeouts, and seven or fewer walks over a nine-start span, joining Roy Halladay. Bowden’s record now sits at 8–5 with an ERA of 3.47.

Bochy’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Bradford’s performance ranked among his best, possibly the best to date. “It’s hard to say that because he’s had some really good ones,” Bochy said. “He was right on tonight. He just looked determined to bounce back after a rough outing last week in Arizona. Cody’s just so good with his command and his preparation and that works up here. You don’t have to throw 95 mph.”

Bradford’s Postgame Comments

One of the things Bradford felt was working for him was extra rest. “Baseball is a weird sport. Anytime you have a rough start, you’re going to be pitching again. This week, it was seven days later,” Bradford said after the game. “Throughout the week, you’ve just got to try and digest what happened. See where you can make adjustments, whether it was just the game plan went wrong, or just poor execution, or a little bit of both. Then you flush it.”