(Arlington) Danny Jansen, Santiago Espinal and Raimel Tapia came out on top for the Toronto Blue Jays, who defeated the Texas Rangers 11-7 on Saturday night.
Posted yesterday at 11:26 p.m.
Jansen homered and tied a career high with four hits. Espinal tied two career highs with three hits and three RBIs, while Tapia slammed a three-run long ball for the Torontonians.
The Blue Jays’ 11 runs came in the first four innings, helping Kevin Gausman record a fourth straight win.
The Toronto team find themselves 18 games above the .500 mark and they approached a half game of the Tampa Bay Rays and the first place of the teams drafted by the American.
Gausman (12-9) allowed five runs on two home runs — a three-run slap from Adolis Garcia in the first inning and a two-run slap from Sam Huff in the sixth. He ruled for five and a third innings, striking out nine opponents.
Bo Bichette, who has hit five long balls in his last four games, hit three doubles to the opposite field.
The Blue Jays circled their batting order twice in the first three innings, against Kohei Arihara (1-3). The latter also allowed Jensen’s two-run homer in the fourth. Tim Mayza recorded his first campaign save.
Garcia’s four-goal hit ended an 11-no-hitter streak. He returned to the Rangers roster for the first time on Tuesday and was used as a designated hitter on Saturday.
Arihara, who pitched for six seasons in Japan before joining the Rangers last year, allowed 11 runs, 12 hits and five walks.
The Rangers have lost 12 of their last 13 games and are now 20 games under .500 for the first time this season.