Rangers Win In 10
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers couldn’t have drawn up a night like Saturday two weeks ago because the two key players weren’t even on the roster.
Outfielder Drew Stubbs, who came into the game as a pinch runner in the eighth inning, delivered a 10th inning walk-off homer to left to lift Texas to a 6-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Stubbs was signed by the Rangers on May 7 to give them a strong defender and baserunner. His signing came four days after the club traded for catcher Bobby Wilson, who hit a grand slam in the second inning to give the Rangers an early 4-0 lead.
The Rangers needed the Stubbs drama to turn around what could have been a disastrous finish. Texas led 5-2 in the ninth, but closer Shawn Tolleson gave up a two-run homer to Justin Smoak and a solo homer to Troy Tulowitzki to tie the game and set the stage for the first walk-off win for the Rangers this season.
Toronto pitcher Gavin Floyd (1-3) mowed through the first two
batters he faced in the 10th before Stubbs drilled a 1-2 pitch in his first at-bat of the game.
“Any time you can help contribute to a win, regardless of the situation, is great,” said Stubbs, who stole a base in the eighth. “Obviously, walk-off home runs are a lot of fun. For me, being here during the stretch run last year, getting familiar with everybody and coming back, it was great. Just to step in in a spot like that after a week, it felt good to get the win regardless of how it got done.”
It got done by Stubbs, Wilson and a strong start from Colby Lewis. Lewis pitched seven innings, struck out six and allowed just two runs and exited with the Rangers leading 5-2.
Despite the loss, Toronto manager John Gibbons liked the way his team pushed late to force extra innings.
“Our guys got some fight,” Gibbons said. “They keep battling back, got some big hits late. It’s tough sometimes to tie it on the road. You’ve got to take the lead because they’ve got the last at-bat. But we battled, like we always do.”
The Tolleson outing took the spotlight away from Wilson, who became the first Texas catcher to have multiple grand slams in the same season since Ivan Rodriguez in 2001. He’s done that in just 38 at-bats with both the slams coming in less than a week.
“All you can ask for as a player is a chance to play and I’m thankful they have the confidence in me to keep running me out there,” said Wilson, who was 1-for-4. “I think it’s just confidence. We’ve been working on the confidence of swinging the bat and being aggressive. I hit through the minor leagues and I know I can hit. It’s being more aggressive and attacking pitches.”
Tony Barnette (3-2), the fifth Texas pitcher, earned the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless work.
Texas got off to a good start when Wilson hit his slam off Toronto starter Marco Estrada. Estrada walked two of the first three batters in the second before Wilson hit the 11th pitch of the at-bat into the Toronto bullpen. Estrada gave up five runs (four earned) in his six innings.
He believes his start was a few pitches from being much better.
“I was a pitch or two away from it being a completely different game,” Estrada said. “That stuff doesn’t matter. I made a terrible pitch to Wilson, tried going cutter down and away, and I basically ended up throwing a BP fastball down the middle and he crushed it. I’ve got to get better with that pitch, especially to righties down and away. It’s not quite there yet.”
Toronto cut the Texas lead to 4-1 on a homer from Ryan Goins in the third and made it 4-2 on an RBI single from Ezequiel Carrera in the fifth inning. The Rangers pushed the lead to 5-2 when Ryan Rua scored on a passed ball in the sixth.
