Joc caps 11-pitch AB by kicking off Rangers' 3-HR night

TORONTO -- Joc Pederson took a first-pitch fastball out of the hand of Kevin Gausman to begin Thursday night’s series-opening matchup between the Rangers and Blue Jays. The pitch was well below the zone for a ball.

Pederson and Gausman proceeded to battle it out before most fans had even made it to their Rogers Centre seats. Pederson fouled off seven pitches and got to a 2-2 count before yet another four-seamer -- the 11th pitch of the at-bat -- caught too much of the plate.

Pederson didn’t miss, launching it a Statcast-projected 402 feet for a leadoff homer to begin the evening north of the border. It was the most pitches in a single plate appearance ending with a leadoff home run since June 2, 2022, when Yankees infielder Matt Carpenter pulled it off against Shohei Ohtani (also 11 pitches).

Pederson perfectly set the tone for the Rangers to power towards a 6-5 victory over the Blue Jays to open the series.

“That started everything for us,” said manager Skip Schumaker. “The momentum started because of Joc and that 11-pitch at-bat. We were just hoping for him to start us off, get on base, walk, whatever it was. But for him to lead it off like that really set the tone. And then the offense kept going.”

Since moving to the leadoff spot in mid May, Pederson entered today slashing .287/.364/.611. He has 10 home runs and 19 RBIs in 32 games.

“I was just in battle mode,” Pederson said of his first inning homer on Thursday. “It's big any time you can put together a long at-bat. It helps. Having it end with a home run, I think, is even better. … [Leading off] is nice when it goes well, and sometimes when it goes bad, it's not so nice. You just make the best of it. I think there's ups and downs in this game, and today, that was a big win.”

Texas also got home runs from Wyatt Langford and Jake Burger in the third inning to account for all the run-scoring, while MacKenzie Gore twirled his seventh quality start of the year, allowing three runs over seven innings while striking out five.

But what stood out most is that the pitching staff had room for error for once.

With how the offense had performed for much of the season, the pitchers have been working with a razor-thin margin. With a six-run cushion on Thursday, Gore was able to attack hitters. And though he gave up three runs in the fifth, he righted the ship quickly to put himself in line for the win.

“It's nice [to pitch with a big lead],” Gore said. “But I don't think you change the game plan. It gives you some room to breathe. I gave up three, and we were just fine as a team. I thought we stuck to the plan and executed at a pretty high level, and it's a good win for us.”

Even the ever-steady Jacob Latz -- the best of the Rangers’ high-leverage relievers -- was bound to give up a run at some point again. It was best to do it with the three-run lead in the ninth, when he gave up a two-run homer to Kazuma Okamoto. He, too, locked down quickly for his 15th save of the season.

The breathing room was real. Full stop.

“I mean, MacKenzie Gore was throwing backdoor cutters for maybe the first time this year,” Schumaker said. “He was feeling really comfortable and if he made a mistake, that's OK. … When you see stuff like that happen, you know not only are they comfortable out there, but they're OK with giving up a run or two, because they know of the cushion.

“We believe this offense can provide that. We have traffic, and we put up the crooked number. That's what, in my opinion, that should look like more often, because we have that type of talent in that lineup.”