The Texas Rangers withstood an injury to starting pitcher Max Scherzer to hang on and beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 on Tuesday night at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Scherzer left the game in the sixth inning with a right triceps spasm after throwing 73 pitches and holding Toronto scoreless.
“We did not want him to push through it,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said after the game. “He said, ‘I’ll try to push through this,’ and I said no. We were not going to take any chances there. It’s too bad because he really had good stuff. He was on top of his game, [had] good command, and all four pitches were working for him.”
Scherzer is scheduled to have an MRI on Wednesday.
The Rangers’ bullpen, which has struggled all season, pitched the final three and two-thirds innings, allowing three runs. Chris Stratton was the only Texas reliever to keep Toronto off the board.
Offensively, the Rangers jumped out to a 5-0 lead behind a two-run home run by Robbie Grossman and three runs from shortstop Corey Seager. Seager also tallied his 1,000th career hit with a single in the fourth inning.
“He’s one of the best I’ve had,” Bochy said of his shortstop. “That’s how good he is. I enjoy watching him. You always enjoy watching elite players do their thing. … He’s just so good, and he’s so dedicated to his craft. It’s been enjoyable watching him this year.”
Toronto scored twice in the seventh, but Texas added an insurance run on a bases-loaded single in the top of the ninth. Davis Schneider homered off Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the inning, then Chapman retired the next two batters to end the game.
The win moves the Rangers past Toronto into a wild-card spot in the American League, where they are currently half a game ahead of the Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners. The Rangers trail the Houston Astros by one game in the AL West standings, with 18 remaining.
Texas (80-64) continues its series against Toronto (80-65) at 6:07 p.m. CT on Wednesday.
