, won for the ninth time in 13 games to get back to .500 before playing 20 of their next 26 games on the road. After his pregame snack, Gomez had sent a recording of a rooster call to the public address announcer, asking it to be played for Rangers slugger Joey Gallo, whose last name in Spanish translates to rooster. Instead, the call got played when Gomez came to bat in the second inning and had a single.''I want to put it up to make fun of him, so they confused it and put it on mine,'' Gomez said. That rooster call got played again after Gomez hit a three-run shot in the third that ricocheted off the left-field foul pole and put Texas up 6-0. He added a two-run homer in the seventh.''When he's locked in, he's extremely challenging, he's a true professional hitter with a ton of power,'' manager Jeff Banister said. The Blue Jays (35-37), who beat Texas in the AL Division Series each of the past two seasons, lost for the ninth straight time when they had a chance to reach .500 for the first time this season. They have been outscored 73-24 in those nine losses.''It's been a battle trying to get back to that .500 mark. ... It seems we get knocked around pretty good on that day,'' Jays manager John Gibbons said. ''If it was a team that never won big games and hadn't experienced it, I'd look at it differently. We just can't seem to give over that hump yet, and we will.''Martin Perez (4-6) went six innings, and all four runs he allowed came with two outs in the fifth. The lefty struck out three, walked two and hit a batter. Marcus Stroman (7-4) matched a career high allowing seven runs over four innings, giving up three homers. The right-hander has lost consecutive starts after going 6-0 in his 10 games before that.''The long ball hurt me,'' Stroman said. ''Just didn't have a good feel of my sinker and all of the other pitches kind of played off of that. I'll make a few adjustments.''BELTRE WATCHAdrian Beltre put the Rangers ahead to stay with an RBI double in the first. Beltre added another double in the seventh, his 2,962nd hit, one behind Sam Crawford for 33rd all-time. He had a sacrifice fly in the eighth for his 1,587th RBI. SHORT HOPSThe Rangers won four games during the seven-game homestand. They scored at least 10 runs in three of those wins. ... Chirinos, the No. 2 catcher, homered for the fourth time in his past seven starts. He also doubled twice. ... Shin-Soo Choo walked twice, making the eighth consecutive game he has reached base multiple times. He has reached base in 28 of 56 plate appearances his past 12 games. TRAINER'S ROOMBlue Jays: 3B Josh Donaldson was a late scratch from the lineup as the DH because of left knee soreness. ... LF Steve Pearce didn't play a day after bruising his right knee when crashing into the wall on Joey Gallo's inside-the-park home run. Rangers: RHP Jeremy Jeffress (strained lower back muscle) was put on the 10-day DL, and RHP Preston Claiborne's contract was purchased from Triple-A Round Rock. Jeffress first felt something wrong when warming up before pitching Tuesday. ''The next morning I couldn't get up out of bed,'' he said. UP NEXTBlue Jays: J. A. Happ (2-4) starts the opener of a weekend series in Kansas City. Rangers: Yu Darvish (6-5) pitches against the New York Yankees in his first MLB matchup against fellow Japanese starter Masahiro Tanaka (5-7).---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Time: 2:05 PM EDT Venue: Globe Life Park in Arlington, Arlington, Tex., 76011 ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rangers left-hander Martin Perez finally got back into the win column in his last start, pitching 5 1/3 innings in Texas' 6-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday. It was his first "W" since May 18. The key now is to see whether Perez can put together back-to-back solid performances, something that has eluded him all season. Perez (3-6, 4.72 ERA) will have his work cut out for him Thursday when the Rangers host Toronto in the series finale of a four-game set. The Blue Jays will counter with right-hander Marcus Stroman (7-3, 3.15), who is riding a hot streak. The only streak Perez has been on this year is an inconsistent one. He has won just one game in each of the first three months and has just one quality start in his past four outings." I just want to use all my pitches, attack and make my pitches," Perez said. "That's it. (The Blue Jays) have a different approach because I'm a lefty. I have to be on the attack every time and not try to give too much credit to the hitters. And try to have a good tempo, too." At least Toronto should offer Perez a good chance at stabilizing things, if history is an indicator. He faced the Blue Jays twice last year. While he was 0-1 in those appearances, he posted a 0.79 ERA. Perez also will be pitching in a day game in the Texas heat for a second consecutive start. In his last start, it was so hot that he changed uniforms between innings. He knows that goes with the territory pitching in Arlington." It's going to be hot, but if you play baseball, you're going to have early games," he said Wednesday. "It doesn't matter. I know I'll have to drink a lot of water tomorrow. I'm fine. It's part of the game." Stroman also has success against the Rangers, but his sample size in the regular season is even smaller than his Perez's. Stroman pitched six shutout innings in 2014 against Texas. He also has a 3.46 ERA in two postseason starts against the Rangers, with both of those coming in 2015. Stroman's pitching hasn't been the issue for Toronto recently. He has lasted at least six innings in seven of his past eight starts, and he yielded more than three runs just once in that span. The problem for Toronto has been the offense, which led to manager John Gibbons to shuffle the batting order. Thursday's game will mark the first for the new-look Jays with Jose Bautista leading off and Russell Martin, Josh Donaldson and Justin Smoak completing the top four spots. Bautista batted leadoff for the first time this season Wednesday and went 0-for-3 with two walks and a run in Toronto's 7-5 victory over Texas (35-36). Thursday's game will mark the first time Martin has batted second all season for a Toronto team that ranks 14th in the American League in runs scored. The revamped offense will give the Jays a chance to reach .500 for the first time this season. Toronto (35-36) is 0-8 this year when trying to get to .500." We'll see how it works," Gibbons said. "We put (Bautista) up there last year, and it kind of sparked us a little bit."
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