Major League Baseball
Texas 9, Toronto 2
When: 7:07 PM ET, Thursday, September 14, 2023
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature: 65°
Umpires: Home - Mike Muchlinski, 1B - Emil Jimenez, 2B - Ryan Blakney, 3B - Hunter Wendelstedt
Attendance: 37594

Corey Seager went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and three RBIs as the visiting Texas Rangers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 9-2 on Thursday night to sweep a four-game series.

The Rangers (82-64) registered a sixth consecutive victory and moved one game ahead of the Mariners (81-65) in the race for the second American League wild card. The Blue Jays (80-67) fell 1 1/2 games behind Seattle.

Jonah Heim added a solo home run for the Rangers to finish with eight RBIs in the series.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run home run for the Blue Jays, who are 3-4 on their 10-game homestand.

Toronto right-hander Kevin Gausman (11-9) allowed four runs, six hits and six walks with five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

Texas right-hander Nathan Eovaldi gave up two runs, three hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.

Cody Bradford (4-1) replaced Eovaldi and allowed a walk and a hit while fanning four in 2 2/3 innings.

Seager opened the scoring with his 31st homer of the season, a drive to right-center with one out in the first.

Bo Bichette singled with one out in the home first, and Guerrero hit a blast to the second level in left-center for his 22nd homer of the season and a 2-1 Toronto lead.

Texas regained the advantage in the second on Ezequiel Duran's bunt single, Marcus Semien's walk and Seager's two-run double to left that popped out of the glove of Whit Merrifield as he went into the wall.

Heim hit a two-out blast to center with two outs in the third, his 17th homer of the season, for a 4-2 lead.

Duran started the eighth with a double against Toronto reliever Trevor Richards, and Evan Carter walked. Semien followed with an RBI double.

After an intentional walk to Seager, Nathaniel Lowe hit a two-run single. Pinch hitter Leody Taveras loaded the bases with a bunt single against Yimi Garcia, and Robbie Grossman walked, forcing in a run. One out later, Josh H. Smith hit a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring.

Rangers designated hitter Mitch Garver left after fouling a ball off his foot in the fourth inning.

Toronto reinstated third baseman Matt Chapman (sprained right middle finger) from the injured list and optioned outfielder Nathan Lukes to Triple-A Buffalo. Chapman went 0-for-3 with a walk in his first game since Aug. 27.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Texas   Toronto
Nathan Eovaldi Player Kevin Gausman
No Decision W/L Loss
3.1 IP 4.2
3 Strikeouts 5
3 Hits 6
5.40 ERA 7.71
Hitting
Texas   Toronto
Corey Seager Player Bo Bichette
3 Hits 2
3 RBI 0
1 HR 0
7 TB 3
.750 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Texas 11 2 20 .314 23 9 9 10 1 0
Toronto 4 1 8 .129 14 11 2 5 0 0