Rangers Lose To Blue Jays
TORONTO — Like some of his teammates, Russell Martin was struggling that the plate this season.
He took a .141 batting average into the game Wednesday.
That did not matter when he came to the plate in the ninth inning with one out and the bases loaded.
The Blue Jays catcher lofted the third consecutive breaking ball from Texas Rangers right-hander Tony Barnette to right field for the game-winning single, giving Toronto a 4-3 victory.
The second hit of the game for Martin gave the Blue Jays (14-15) their second consecutive walk-off win over the Rangers (15-13) after Texas won the opener of the four-game series that ends Thursday.
“The first pitch was a breaking ball, I wasn’t looking for that,” Martin said. “The second pitch was another breaking ball, pretty close maybe just a little bit up. The third pitch was a breaking ball. After seeing it three times, you get a better read, and I was able to lift it, get it in the air. The fact that it was a hit was a plus, but my goal was just to get it in the air.”
Rangers manager Jeff Banister said, “It’s obviously tough, not what we show up to do. We’ve got to find a way to put some more runs on the board. We were able to get some runs early. We’ve just got to
continue to sustain some of those innings. We’ve got to find a way to dig deep and find a little resilience here.”
Edwin Encarnacion, who hit a two-run homer in the sixth to tie the game, led off the bottom of the ninth with a single. Ezequiel Carrera pinch-ran for Encarnacion.
Justin Smoak, who hit home runs to tie and win the game Tuesday, followed with a walk.
Troy Tulowitzki popped out to first, and Barnette (1-2) walked Kevin Pillar to load the bases, setting up Martin’s heroics.
“I lost a little bit of control,” Barnette said. “It just kind of got away from me there. It’s tough luck. I lost a little bit of control. I’ve got to be able to keep the team in it and give them a chance. I didn’t do that tonight.”
It was only the fifth RBI of the season for Martin, who has been hampered by a stiff neck that seems to have cleared up.
“Russ, he needed that,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “We needed that more as a team. He’s always hit, he’s going to hit. But that can do wonders for you no matter who you are.
“I don’t see any signs of the neck at all. That was hindering him big time.”
Right-hander Roberto Osuna (1-0) pitched around a walk in the ninth to earn the win.
Texas right-hander Colby Lewis allowed five hits, one walk and three runs in seven innings. He struck out seven.
Toronto right-hander Aaron Sanchez allowed seven hits, two walks and three runs in seven innings. He struck out five.
Lewis was cruising with a 3-1 lead when he walked Jose Bautista with two out in the sixth. Encarnacion then hit a 1-1 changeup to left for his fourth homer of the season to tie the game.
“I was surprised it stayed fair,” Lewis said. “Usually those balls go foul. I’ve got to do a little bit better job.”
Gibbons said, “It was just kind of a blah game at that point. Colby was shutting us down pretty good. We have some guys who can do that. We can strike back in a hurry with the long ball. When Eddie gets going, you can ride him, everybody jumps on. He’s due.”
Drew Storen replaced Sanchez to open the eighth. The right-hander allowed a leadoff single to Adrian Beltre. Storen struck out Prince Fielder, got a fielder’s choice grounder from Ian Desmond and struck out Mitch Moreland.
Right-hander Tom Wilhelmsen took over from Lewis and pitched a perfect eighth.
Rougned Odor, who led off the Tuesday game with a homer, started the Wednesday game with a double. He took third on a single by Nomar Mazara and scored on a single by Beltre. Another run scored on Desmond’s fielder’s choice grounder to third.
The Blue Jays scored once in the bottom of the first on a leadoff double by Michael Saunders and a single by Bautista.
The Rangers added a run in the second thanks to singles by Elvis Andrus, Wilson and Odor.
Sanchez then set down nine consecutive batters.
“When I started to get the ball down, they started to hit it on the ground,” Sanchez said. “I started changing speeds well after that, too. Not the way I wanted it to start, but I’ll definitely take the way it finished.”
