Texas Rangers crash to their 5th straight loss as the Toronto Blue Jays clinch victory
The Toronto Blue Jays have been on the rise in the past few days and their last two games have spelled out victory for them. Much to the satisfaction of their fans in the team’s home stadium at the Rogers Centre, the results have come out to be good.
However, pleasant outcomes are not always easy to come by, especially on a consistent basis. The Blue Jays have been heavily criticized for their inconsistency. Much to the disappointment of the squad’s management, they rank at the 4th spot in the East Division. The Texas Rangers however have been on the losing run for the past 5 straight games and their lead in the West Division is falling consistently. Their encounter last night produced a disappointing result when they ultimately fell to the hosts 5-8.
The Rangers were hardly impressive again and they were fairly let down by starting pitcher Scott Feldman who performed horribly in his 4.2 innings of play, conceding 7 hits, 4 runs and 1 walk. He walked away with an Earning Run Average (ERA) of 5.51. Much to manager Ron Washington’s disapproval, the series was thrown away by the West Division leaders. The Blue Jays however, brought in Shaun Marcum who has been known for his low ERA. Pitching on 3.53 allowed him to concede less this time around, allowing 6 hits, 3 runs and 2 walks in his 7 innings of play.
The Rangers started their innings with the bat in hand and much to the surprise of the fans, Shaun Marcum made short work of them as he contained the side well for a good period of time. The Blue Jays were the first ones to score and it was John Buck who made the biggest difference in the bottom 2ndinnings as he delivered a stellar 379 feet homer to the right. This brought the Blue Birds on top and put the Texas side on the back foot. The visitors responded soon in the top 4thinnings. David Murphy hit the first ground rule double and then Vladimir Guerrero came in to smash a massive 458 feet homer to the left centre. This brought the team to 1 run lead over the home team and boomed the tempo up for a competitive bout.
The Blue Jays didn’t take long to bash their opponents again as Vernon Wells homered 434 feet to the left, equalizing the score line in the bottom 4th. The onslaught from the Blue Birds wasn’t over as they piled up the score again in the bottom 5th. Travis Snider singled to the left centre and Dewayne Wise singled to the centre. With two men on the first two bases, Yunel Escobar came on to smash a sacrifice grounder to shortstop. Both starting basemen moved up the diamond and welcomed Jose Bautista to the field. The power hitter drove a double to deep centre and got both base occupants to the dugout for two more runs.
The runs were further piled up in the bottom 6th when Buck made his way to the dugout with another run off Wise’s double to the left. The campaign began with the scorer hitting a single to the deep left. He got to the second base off Snider’s grounder out to second, after which Wise took the matter into his own hands. The Rangers climbed up through Andres Blanco whose shot to the right in the top 7th got Nelson Cruz through for the 3rd of the team.
The Blue Jays were however, undeterred and in the bottom 7th, Wells smashed a 370 feet homer to the left to bring up 6 runs on the table. Aaron Hill was walked in the innings and Adam Lind made a mockery of Texas as he smashed an astonishing 457 feet homer to the centre. This brought up 8 runs for the hosts. The last Rangers effort came in the top 9th when Cruz and Mitch Moreland moved up the diamond following the former’s ground rule double hit to the left. Andres Blanco got both the basemen through with a single to the centre, finishing the game up with 5 runs. The Blue Jays won the series and the game 8-5.
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