The Toronto Blue Jays’ battle to stay above .500 continues.
On Monday afternoon, the Blue Jays started a series against the Texas Rangers, defeating their rivals 2-1 to move to 26-27. Let’s take a look at how the Jays snapped their three-game losing streak!
The Blue Jays opened the scoring early, as Daulton Varsho hit his team-leading eighth home run on a 0-1 count with two outs in the first inning off Jacob deGrom.
Daulton Varsho smashes ANOTHER home run! This guy is on fire 🔥
🎥: Sportsnet | #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/tMwizc94X0
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In the top of the fourth, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached on a single, and Varsho hit a ground rule double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Alejandro Kirk hit a sacrifice fly to drive in what became the game-tying run.
The Rangers cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fourth, as Wyatt Langford hit his 10th home run off Kevin Gausman. However, that’s all the Rangers got as the Jays won the series opener.
Takeaways…
Daulton Varsho continues to be one of the Blue Jays’ best hitters this season. His home run in the top of the first gave the Jays an early lead, but he also proceeded to hit a double and a single to go 3-4. This season, the outfielder is slashing .218/.238/.603 with a 121 wRC+
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also had a good game, going 2-5 with two singles, while Addison Barger hit his 10th double of the season in a two-hit performance. Alejandro Kirk went 1-2 with the game-winning RBI, a walk, and a hit. Unfortunately, Anthony Santander didn’t have a great game, finishing 0-4 with his batting average dropping to .189.
Barger was the lone Blue Jay to strike out, looking at all three pitches from left-handed pitcher Hoby Milner. This was the first time in Jacob deGrom’s 229 starts that he’s failed to strike out a batter, so that’s fun.
Although some players had individual success, it wasn’t a great day for the Jays’ offence when they had runners on base. Overall, they went 1-12 with runners in scoring position, with their lone hit being a hard-hit single that failed to score the runner. They left 10 on, and they’re lucky they won the game.
The main reason why the Jays were able to come away with a win is because of starting pitcher Kevin Gausman. Their ace pitched eight innings, allowing one earned run and striking out six to drop his ERA to 3.68. Jeff Hoffman picked up the save, generating three flyouts for his 11th of the season.
Their next game is on Tuesday at 8:05 PM ET, as Bowden Francis is expected to start for the Jays. The Rangers have another tough starting pitcher starting the game, as Nathan Eovaldi and his 1.60 ERA toe the rubber.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.