Darvish Brings Win To Rangers

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TORONTO — J.P. Arencibia heard boos in his first game back at Rogers Centre on Friday after signing as a free agent in the offseason with the Texas Rangers.

The former Toronto catcher answered the only way he could, hitting an R.A. Dickey knuckleball to left field for a three-run homer in the seventh inning. It provided all the cushion right-hander Yu Darvish needed as the Rangers snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory.

“I view it as they cared for me,” Arencibia said of the booing. “It’s definitely better as an opposing player if you get booed.”

Arencibia was playing first base for the Rangers after being recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday.

“It had nothing to do with the individual hitting it,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “It was a big blow. The game is tight right there. It doesn’t put the game completely out of range, but it gets awful tough with limited innings.”

Third baseman Adrian Beltre also homered for the Rangers and second baseman Rougned Odor had three hits, including a double and an RBI triple. Center fielder Colby Rasmus hit his 13th homer of the season in the bottom of the seventh inning for the Blue Jays.

Darvish (9-5) allowed five hits, three walks and one run while equaling his season high with 12 strikeouts.

“It started on the mound,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “Yu was able to pitch around some traffic that he had on the bases and make some pitches in some key situations. He kept us in the ballgame until we could get something going offensively.”

The Blue Jays (49-48) dropped their third consecutive game as

play resumed after the All-Star break.

Toronto entered the break after completing a 2-8 road trip, and Texas went into the break by dropping all seven games during a homestand.

“I hope it gives him confidence,” Washington said of Arencibia’s home run. “He certainly didn’t lack it when he arrived here from the minor leagues. It was nice for him to come through right there. It was big; it was huge.”

Beltre broke a scoreless tie with his 14th homer of the season to lead off the fifth inning against Dickey, who is 1-6 in his past seven starts despite pitching well. The right-hander allowed six hits and five runs while striking seven in seven innings.

Beltre’s homer snapped a string of three straight games in which Dickey had not allowed a home run after he had allowed at least one homer in his eight previous starts.

The Rangers (39-57) broke open a 2-0 game on the second homer of the season by Arencibia.

“I was kind of cruising along and, you know what, in that seventh inning, I threw a couple of good knuckleballs that they got singles on,” Dickey said. “And then J.P. timed one up right, it was not one of my better ones, and the next thing you know we’re down five runs to one of the best pitchers in the league.

“I wish I could say I knew exactly what was going on when that happens. But the truth of the matter is it’s kind of the nature or the pitch and you have to be able to live with it.”

Arencibia’s blast followed one-out singles by left fielder Jake Smolinski and center fielder Leonys Martin.

“(The knuckleball) is not fun to hit, I can tell you that,” Arencibia said. “He’s got a special pitch. Obviously, I got to catch it and I really didn’t catch it. It’s a little bit easier to try and take swings at it, but I still think it’s tougher to hit. (The home run pitch) just knuckled into the barrel, thankfully, because the other ones I swung and missed by a foot.”

After Rasmus homered in the seventh, Toronto catcher Josh Thole walked and a second baseman Munenori Kawasaki hit a ground-rule double. After shortstop Jose Reyes, whose nine-game hitting streak ended, was retired on a popup to shortstop, left-hander Neal Cotts replaced Darvish and pitched the next 1 1/3 innings. Joakim Soria worked the ninth.

The Rangers took a 2-0 lead with two outs in the fifth inning after Dickey hit Arencibia with a pitch. He scored on a triple to right-center by Odor, aided by right fielder Jose Bautista’s poor route to the ball.

“When guys like Darvish are on, I don’t care what your lineup looks like they’re going to cut you up pretty good,” Gibbons said. “They’re going to limit your opportunities. We had a couple tonight and we didn’t cash in. We left a few guys (nine) on base.”

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