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09/19 16:02 CDT Gausman pitches 5 no-hit innings and Guerrero goes deep twice
as Blue Jays beat Rangers 4-0
Gausman pitches 5 no-hit innings and Guerrero goes deep twice as Blue Jays beat
Rangers 4-0
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Baseball Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) --- Kevin Gausman pitched five no-hit innings before
exiting with lower back tightness, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit two solo homers
after that and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers 4-0 on Thursday to
avoid a series sweep.
Texas managed only two singles against Gausman and four relievers.
Gausman (13-11) struck out six and the only runner he allowed was on a walk in
the fifth. The 33-year-old right-hander threw 38 of his 58 pitches for strikes
before Dillon Tate struck out two of the three batters he faced in a perfect
sixth.
Gnesis Cabrera then took over in the seventh, and Josh Smith lined the first
pitch sharply into right-center for a hit, though he was thrown out trying to
stretch it for a double.
Guerrero has 30 homers after going deep in the seventh and ninth innings. His
first multi-homer game this season was the 10th in his career.
The reigning World Series champion Rangers (73-80) were officially eliminated
from the AL West race, falling 9 1/2 games behind the division-leading Houston
Astros with nine games to play. Texas was seven back in the wild-card race.
Rangers rookie Kumar Rocker (0-1) struck out five, walked four and hit a batter
over three innings in his second career start. He was the Rangers' first-round
draft pick two years ago, and allowed two runs (one earned) in what will be his
only appearance at home this season.
The closest the Rangers came to a hit against Gausman was when Adolis Garca
hit a sharp grounder along the first-base line that went foul leading off the
fifth inning. Garca then took a called third strike on an 85.2 mph slider that
appeared to be low. Nathaniel Lowe walked on four pitches before Gausman struck
out the final two batters he faced.
Toronto left six runners on base in three innings against Rocker. The Blue Jays
got a run in the second without a hit, with Nathan Lukes hitting a sacrifice
fly after the bases were loaded on two walks and a hit batter. They scored in
the third on a two-out error by third baseman Ezequiel Duran.
BLANKS
The Blue Jays recorded their ninth shutout victory of the season, a day after
losing 2-0 at Texas. The Rangers were held scoreless for the 10th time this
season.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette was put on the injured list with a broken right
middle finger after returning for only one game after he had been out more than
eight weeks with a calf injury. He played Tuesday night in his first game since
July 19, but broke his finger taking groundballs before Wednesday's game, when
he was a late scratch from the lineup.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: Open their final road trip of the season Friday night at Tampa Bay.
RHP Jos Berros (16-9, 3.44 ERA) is 7-0 with a 1.51 ERA over his last seven
starts.
Rangers: Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom (0-0, 0.00) makes his
second start since elbow surgery last summer when he starts the series opener
at home against the Mariners. It comes a week after he threw 61 pitches over 3
2/3 innings in Seattle in his first big league start since April 28, 2023.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
