It's Wild! Texas Rangers Jump Blue Jays In Wild Card Race with 4th Straight Win

The Texas Rangers moved ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card race with a 5-2 win Tuesday at Rogers Centre.

The Texas Rangers may have got their groove back.

The Rangers won their fourth consecutive game and moved ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Wild Card race with a 6-3 win Tuesday at Rogers Centre.

Texas (80-64) leapfrogged Toronto (80-65) and now has a half-game lead for the second of three Wild Card spots. With the win, the Rangers clinched a head-to-head postseason tiebreaker with the Blue Jays. 

"We've been playing better baseball," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's good to get the timely hits."

The Seattle Mariners, who played the Angels late Tuesday, are a full game back of the Rangers and Blue Jays in the wild-card race. A loss would drop them 1.5 games back.  

Robbie Grossman's two-run homer in the fourth gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead. Jonah Heim drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth and doubles by Leody Taveras, Josh Smith, and Corey Seager added two more runs in the seventh to increase the lead to 5-0.

Grossman gets us going! #StraightUpTX pic.twitter.com/fxn0OFTRU0

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) September 12, 2023

The Blue Jays scored twice in the seventh, one run against Leclerc, and one against Brock Burke. Cavan Biggio drove in the first run with a single and later scored on a groundout.

Davis Schneider homered off Aroldis Chapman in the ninth to pull Toronto to within 5-3, but Chapman struck out Biggio and forced Santiago Espinal to fly out to end the game.

"He's one of the best I've had," Bochy said of Seager. "You always like watching elite players do their thing and he just keeps going. He's just so good and so dedicated to his craft."

Rangers 6, Blue Jays 3

Here are the key moments from Tuesday's game in Toronto:

Scherzer Exits with Spasms

Rangers starting pitcher Max Scherzer left Tuesday's game early with right triceps spasms, according to the Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant.

Scherzer retired George Springer with a groundout in the sixth inning when he was lifted for Jose Leclerc. Scherzer allowed no runs on three hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out two and threw 73 pitches. Scherzer has dealt with some arm soreness over the past few weeks but has insisted it's not serious. Rest is all he needs, Scherzer has said.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Scherzer will have an MRI scan Wednesday, as a precaution, to make sure it's not a more serious injury.

Seager Is a 1,000 Man

Corey Seager had three hits, including two doubles. He was on base four times. His fourth-inning single ahead of Robbie Grossman's homer was his 1,000th-career hit.

1,000 and counting...@GoldenChick x #StraightUpTX pic.twitter.com/no5Tdzndxk

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) September 13, 2023

Up Next

Rangers left-hander Jordan Montgomery (8-11, 3.62) faces left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (9-5, 3.57) in Game 2 at 6:07 p.m. Tuesday.

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You can follow Stefan Stevenson on Twitter @StefanVersusTex.

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