Two teams that are in the thick of the American League playoff hunt will meet Friday night when the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers open a three-game series in Arlington, Texas.
The Rangers (76-77) and Blue Jays (76-77) are among the teams battling for a wild-card spot. Both teams trail the Cleveland Guardians by two games in the race for the final berth.
Texas also is in the AL West race but fell a game behind Houston at the top of the division with Thursday’s 4-3 loss to Boston.
The Rangers looked as if they might complete a three-game sweep of the Red Sox until closer Jacob Latz gave up a three-run homer to Trevor Story in the eighth inning that handed Boston a 4-3 lead. The loss ended the Rangers’ four-game winning streak.
Texas manager Skip Schumaker said Latz was available for only one inning. He sent him to the mound after Jakob Junis put the first two hitters on base in the eighth.
“Wasn’t gonna wait any longer,” Schumaker said. “So Latz did a good job against (Adley) Rutschman (for the first out of the inning) and unfortunately gave up a home run. Again, I said it before, if we were gonna lose, I’d rather lose with our best guys, and we did — and that’s OK. It’s part of the game.
“Just trying to figure out the right kind of recipe to get it into Latz’s hands so we don’t have to use him in the eighth inning. Trying to not use Latz multi-innings, or use him in the eighth and figure out the ninth later. (Robert) Garcia was down today. So few guys in the back end. We would have closed with (Trevor) Williams and (Jordan Montgomery) if Latz could have gotten through that inning.”
Meanwhile, Max Scherzer held Detroit to one run on three hits in five innings during Toronto’s 5-1 victory Wednesday to collect his second win in his last four starts.
The Blue Jays were idle on Thursday.
“We have work to do,” Scherzer said. “It takes all of us, not only the starting staff, but the bullpen, the hitters. We have to win ballgames. Our backs are against the wall. We’ve got to come out fighting and clawing, and keep finding ways to win ballgames.
“It’s great when you have to come to the field, and it’s must-win baseball. That’s how we’ve felt for a while now. We know this position that we’re in. We’re aware of the standings, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to come here and win ball games.”
Texas and Toronto each have nine games left in the regular season.
“We’ll try to go 1-0 every day,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said on Wednesday. “That’s it. It’s going to be another tough series. It will be a good off-day for everyone (Thursday), but every day and every series is going to be tough and really important.”
Right-hander Dylan Cease (11-5, 2.38 ERA) will start for Toronto on Friday. Cease is 3-3 with a 6.19 ERA in eight career appearances (all starts) against the Rangers. He allowed four runs on four hits and struck out 10 batters in 4 2/3 innings in a 7-4 loss to them on June 27.
Right-hander Kumar Rocker (5-11, 4.54 ERA) is Texas’ probable starter for the series opener.
Rocker is 0-1 with a 1.00 ERA against Toronto in two career appearances, both starts. He scattered four hits over six scoreless innings in a no-decision vs. the Blue Jays on June 28.
–Field Level Media
