Toronto 3, Texas 2
When: 7:07 PM ET, Friday, August 17, 2012
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature:
73°
Umpires:
Home -
Tim Tschida, 1B -
Jeff Nelson, 2B -
Bill Welke, 3B -
Angel Campos
Attendance:
26816
By SportsDirect Inc.
Blue Jays 3, Rangers 2: J.A. Happ threw six sensational innings and Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run homer as host Toronto edged Texas.
Happ (2-1) limited the top offensive team in baseball to just one run on two hits while racking up eight strikeouts. Four relievers bridged the gap to closer Casey Janssen, who recorded his 16th save as Toronto won for just the fifth time in the last 19 games.
Happ outdueled Yu Darvish (12-9), who allowed just three runs on three hits over seven innings. The Japanese right-hander struck out 10 and walked just one.
Encarnacion, who came into the game 4-for-5 against Darvish this season, victimized the rookie again in the first inning. Returning from a one-game absence due to a shoulder injury, Encarnacion crushed a hanging curveball into the second deck in left field for his career-best 31st home run of the season.
Happ mowed down the Texas lineup in the early going - striking out six straight Ranger hitters at one point - before running into his only bout of trouble in the fifth. Ian Kinsler and Michael Young hit leadoff singles and advanced on a Geovany Soto sacrifice. Craig Gentry brought Kinsler home with a groundout to second.
Toronto answered in the bottom half, as Anthony Gose hit a bloop to center field that dropped in and bounced off the glove of Rangers center fielder Craig Gentry. Gose ended up at third base with his first major-league triple and scored on a Rajai Davis base hit to center.
The Rangers closed back to within a run in the seventh after Mike Olt hit a ground ball to third base that Omar Vizquel couldn't handle cleanly, allowing Adrian Beltre to score.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Happ's six consecutive strikeouts tied a Blue Jays record set by Ted Lilly in 2004 and equaled by Mark Rzepczynski in 2010. ... Beltre was moved to DH and Olt started at third base as Rangers manager Ron Washington looks to limit Beltre's exposure to the Toronto turf. Beltre is dealing with a nagging hamstring injury. ... Gose added a stolen base, his ninth in 23 games.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Texas |
|
Toronto |
Yu Darvish
|
Player |
J.A. Happ
|
Loss |
W/L |
Win |
7.0 |
IP |
6.0 |
10 |
Strikeouts |
8 |
3 |
Hits |
2 |
3.86 |
ERA |
1.50 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Texas
|
4 |
0 |
4 |
.129 |
14 |
12 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
Toronto
|
4 |
1 |
10 |
.143 |
6 |
11 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
1 |