TORONTO (AP) — Corey Seager homered and drove in three runs, Jonah Heim hit a solo home run and the Texas Rangers routed the Toronto Blue Jays 9-2 on Thursday night to complete a four-game sweep.
Robbie Grossman reached base four times and drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk as the Rangers (82-64) won their sixth straight, moving 2 1/2 games ahead of the Blue Jays in the AL wild-card race.
Texas guaranteed its first winning season since going 95-67 in 2016 and swept a four-game series for the first time since Sept. 2019 at Baltimore. The Rangers outscored Toronto 35-9 over the four games.
Toronto (80-67) is 1 1/2 games behind Seattle, the third AL wild card. Tampa Bay is in the top wild-card spot.
Seager opened the scoring with a solo homer off right-hander Kevin Gausman in the first.
After Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run homer off Texas right-hander Nathan Eovaldi in the bottom half, Seager restored the Rangers’ lead with a two-out, two-run double in the second.
Heim made it 4-2 with a two-out homer in the third. Heim is the fourth Rangers player to reach 85 RBIs this season, joining Seager, Marcus Semien, and Adolis García.
Eovaldi allowed two runs and three hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out three.
Left-hander Cody Bradford (4-1) pitched 2 2/3 shutout innings in relief of Eovaldi.
Gausman (11-9) allowed four runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out five, raising his AL-leading total to 222, but matched a career-worst with six walks.
Rangers right-hander José Leclerc struck out Guerrero to strand runners at first and second in the seventh.
Texas immediately added to its lead in the eighth. Semien hit an RBI double off Trevor Richards and Nathaniel Lowe chased Richards with a two-run single to put the Rangers up 7-2.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rangers: Texas DH Mitch Garver left after fouling a ball off his left foot in the fourth inning. Garver finished his at-bat but flied out to leave the bases loaded. X-rays did not reveal a fracture. … Manager Bruce Bochy said INF Josh Jung (fractured left thumb) is expected to return Monday for the opener of a home series against Boston.
Blue Jays: 3B Matt Chapman was activated off the 10-day injured list before the game. Chapman hadn’t played since Aug. 27 because of a sprained right middle finger. He batted sixth and went 0 for 3 with a walk.
ROSTER MOVES
To make room for Chapman, Toronto optioned OF Nathan Lukes to Triple-A Buffalo.
UP NEXT
Rangers: RHP Jon Gray (8-7, 3.96 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday as Texas begins a three-game series at Cleveland. RHP Lucas Giolito (7-13, 4.89) is scheduled to start for the Guardians.
Blue Jays: RHP José Berríos (10-10, 3.63 ERA) is expected to start Friday as Toronto opens a three-game series against Boston. RHP Brayan Bello (12-8, 3.68) is scheduled for the Red Sox.
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