Rangers Claim Division Lead With Win Over Blue Jays

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

September 19, 2026

Rangers 6, Blue Jays 2

ARLINGTON, Texas (Sep 19) — The Texas Rangers nailed down their second consecutive series with a 6–2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays Saturday evening. Josh Jung delivered one of the key hits with a homer in the first inning. This win carried extra importance as it put them in sole possession of first place in the AL West over the Houston Astros, 6–3 losers to the Atlanta Braves Saturday. The Rangers have seven games left to play in the regular season. They will try for the sweep Sunday afternoon with first pitch slated for 1:35 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Jacob deGrom will start the series finale for the Rangers, while the Blue Jays have not announced their starter as of press time.

Rangers — Blue Jays Game Summary

The Rangers got off to an early start in the bottom of the first off righty Jose Soriano. With two outs, Jung connected on the first pitch he saw, sending it to the seats in right for his 11th home run of the year.

The Rangers tallied two more runs in the bottom of the second. Soriano walked Wyatt Langford to start the frame before striking out Jake Burger swinging. Soriano hit Nicky Lopez with a pitch, who was tended to briefly by the Rangers’ training staff, but ultimately stayed in the game. Danny Jansen reached on a fielder’s choice and a throwing error by shortstop Andres Gimenez. Langford scored on the play as Lopez advanced to third. Moments later, Soriano threw a wild pitch that allowed Lopez to score and Jansen to go to second.

The Blue Jays cut into the lead in the top of the sixth with right-hander Nathan Eovaldi on in relief. Eovaldi hit Gimenez with a pitch to open the inning. After Myles Straw lined to left, Brett Bateman advanced Gimenez to second with a single to right. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. flied to center before Alejandro Kirk drove in Gimenez with a single to right.

Rangers Get Insurance Runs

The Rangers scored again in the bottom of the sixth. Soriano started the frame by plunking Jung for his second hit batter of the night. On deck was Brandon Nimmo, who singled to right. Jung scored when Langford doubled to left. Blue Jays manager John Schneider brought in Paul Sewald to relieve Soriano. Burger struck out swinging to open the inning, prompting Sewald to give Lopez the intentional walk. That brought up Jansen, who plated Nimmo with the Rangers’ third hit batsman of the game. On deck was Evan Carter, who scored Langford with a sacrifice fly to center.

The Blue Jays inched closer in the top of the seventh off reliever Robert Garcia. Davis Schneider entered as a pinch-hitter for Nathan Lukes and sent a wall scraper to left-center on the first pitch for his fourth long ball of the campaign.

What Went Right for the Rangers

The Rangers haven’t had a lot of power to speak of lately other than the occasional home run. Jung had his long ball in the first, but this team has been very patient over the last couple of days. They drew 10 walks in Friday’s game and four more on Saturday. One of those was the intentional free pass to Lopez, which incidentally was the first four-fingered salute of his career.

The Rangers have also been getting timely hits from most of their lineup, and that’s what you have to do on a lot of nights. They also seemed to feed on the crowd noise in this contest. The paid attendance was 38,399, marking the fifth sellout in 2026 at Globe Life Field. It helps when you have a crowd like that surrounding you.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The Rangers faced some bad luck early on as their starter Cal Quantrill exited in the second inning with right lat tightness. He retired all four batters he faced before he was lifted. Saturday was his shortest start by pitch count in his career and matched his shortest by innings pitched. His line in that other game was 1 1/3 IP, 7 R-5 ER on June 6, 2021 at the Baltimore Orioles while with the Cleveland Indians.

The Rangers also ran into trouble with the RBI single by Kirk in the sixth and the solo shot by Schneider in the seventh.

What a Relief

The Rangers’ relief unit limited the Blue Jays to two runs over 7 2/3 innings and has fashioned a 1.84 ERA on this homestand, earning three of the club’s four victories. Jordan Montgomery earned the win for the Rangers Saturday, retiring 11 of 12 batters faced across 3 2/3 innings, his longest scoreless outing of the season and second-longest relief appearance of his career. He was pressed into service with one out in the second inning following Quantrill’s injury. It’s the second time in Montgomery’s career that he’s entered a contest in the second inning. The first came September 15, 2019 at the Blue Jays as a member of the New York Yankees.

Rough Night for Soriano

Blue Jays starter Jose Soriano fell to 12–8 Saturday. His line was 5 IP, 4 H, 6 R-5 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. He allowed the solo homer in the first to Jung after entering Saturday with the fifth-best HR/9 in the AL (0.85). Soriano was tagged for two more runs in a mistake-filled second inning that included a hit-by-pitch, wild pitch, and throwing error by Giménez.

Soriano sat down 11 of his next 12 before running into more trouble in the sixth, failing to record an out in the inning as he was charged with three more earned runs. He has allowed three or more runs in seven straight starts after doing so 10 times over his first 24 starts.

Soriano allowed a career-high six runs to the Rangers after entering the game with a 2.84 ERA in his previous eight games and six starts versus the Rangers.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker expressed how important the bullpen’s performance was in Saturday’s game. “That happened because of Trevor Williams going back out in the ninth inning last night just to cover us. It allowed Monty [Jordan Montgomery] to be able to throw three or four innings. So, that outing right there was because of Trevor Williams. We wouldn’t have been able to do that because Monty was pitching that ninth inning if Trevor couldn’t give us another inning. He was out of gas and he said I can give you guys one more if you need it. That’s what this team is about.”