The Texas Rangers scored seven runs while the Toronto Blue Jays scored four runs.
I was thinking it. You were thinking it. We were all thinking it.
The Rangers hadn’t scored since the third inning last night and were facing Dylan Cease who entered the game leading the American League in strikeouts on his way to a likely All-Star nod as a first half contender for the AL Cy Young award.
Texas, meanwhile, was sending Cal Quantrill to the mound for his second start of the season. Even then, he was only
starting because Jack Leiter recently had ankle surgery. Before that Quantrill had been a member of the bullpen as the long relief/mop up guy.
In fact, Quantrill hasn’t even been built up to make a traditional start so loaded with about 50 pitches today, Quantrill was tasked with potentially getting the ball to Winston Santos, who would be making his MLB debut if he entered the game.
So yeah, despite winning the first two games of this series against a fell .500 straddler club, the deck felt stacked against the Rangers.
Baseball is a funny sport, though.
Instead of giving us the expected, Quantrill tossed four shutout innings and the Rangers knocked Cease out of the game the next half inning as, even though he struck out ten, he allowed four runs on four hits and five walks. The Ranger lineup worked hard to get Cease out early as it took him 107 pitches to collect 14 outs.
Like the other two games in this series, the Rangers scored in the first inning. This time it was via a two-out RBI single from Jake Burger as Cease had committed a real pitching sin by allowing a couple of two-out walks. The real satisfying inning came in Cease’s last, as in the top of the fifth, the Rangers put up a crooked number for a five-run frame – all with two outs – that included the rarest 2026 Rangers unicorn of them all: a two-out, bases loaded hit.
Again like the previous games in this series, the Rangers needed that outburst as immediately after Quantrill left, the Jays scored a couple in the bottom of the fifth and then two more an inning later. Sandwiched between those two rallies, Corey Seager hit a solo home run to help extend Texas’ lead for a bullpen that had to piece together most of the innings today and likely with Jacob Latz unavailable from the outset.
The star in that regard was Peyton Gray. After Robby Ahlstrom and Joe Ross has each allowed a couple of runs following Quantrill, Gray came in and tossed 2.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts to quiet down the Jays and help finish off the win with Tyler Alexander grabbing the save with a scoreless ninth.
It was a victory that seemed unlikely from the outset. No real starting pitcher. No Wyatt Langford in the lineup. No Latz to save the day. Ultimately though, it was no worries and no problem as Texas locked up a series win ahead of tomorrow’s finale.
I was thinking it. You were thinking it. We were all thinking it. Everyone except for the Rangers apparently.
Player of the Game: Burger lead the way with three hits, including two RBI hits for the first two runs of the game. Alejandro Osuna had a couple of hits, including the RBI hit with the bases loaded. Elias Diaz continues to make an impact and delivered the biggest blow with a two-out, two-run double following Osuna’s hit.
But it’s hard to ignore the efforts from Quantrill and Gray today. Quantrill kept putting up zeroes early to allow the Rangers to work over Cease and then when the Blue Jays started to battle back in the middle innings, it was Gray that shut them down.
Up Next: The Rangers go for a four-game sweep (or are we calling that a mop now?) of the Blue Jays with a noontime getaway game featuring RHP Kumar Rocker making the start for Texas opposite RHP Shane Bieber for Toronto.
The Sunday finale first pitch from Rogers Centre is scheduled for 12:37 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.
