ARLINGTON -- It was a quiet night at the plate for the Rangers, as the team failed to capitalize on Martín Pérez's quality start and dropped the series opener, 2-1, to the Blue Jays on Friday at Globe Life Field.
Pérez, who entered the game with a 4.67 ERA, did a great job of keeping Toronto at bay, limiting it to just two runs on three hits and two walks over six innings. Through the first four frames, he was virtually untouchable, yielding just one hit -- a single to Whit Merrifield -- to make the narrow loss an even tougher pill to swallow.
The Rangers’ sole run came on a homer from Leody Taveras in the bottom of the third inning. They finished 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
“That’s the story of the game,” manager Bruce Bochy said of the missed offensive opportunities. “We just couldn’t get a hit with a runner in scoring position. We’re not quite scoring as many runs [as we were earlier in the season], but I think we’ve been spoiled with that a bit, so it will be up to us to find a way to win these tight ballgames.
“We’re going to have a rough patch [occasionally], and that’s what’s happened. But when you look at what the pitching did tonight, they gave us a chance against a very tough pitcher in [Blue Jays starter Kevin] Gausman, but we just couldn’t get a hit with a runner on.”
It was Pérez's sixth outing in which he pitched six or more innings and allowed two or fewer runs, and it was a great bounce-back performance after he was rocked by Tampa Bay in his last start.
The only runs scored against Pérez came in the fifth inning, when Danny Jansen sent an errant changeup 385 feet into the left-field seats for a two-run blast. It was the first home run Pérez had allowed at Globe Life Field since Aug. 3, 2022.
Friday also marked Pérez's first loss at home this season. He has posted a 1.71 ERA in five starts at Globe Life Field this year.
“I just wanted to go out there and give us a chance to win,” Pérez said. “I don’t really look at my numbers. I just want to win. I know that if I go out there and do my job, something good is going to happen. Today we didn’t score a lot, but that’s a part of the game. We have been scoring a lot of runs, but it just didn’t happen tonight. We just have to turn the page and come back tomorrow.”
The Rangers’ bullpen did its best to keep the team in the game, too, with Joe Barlow, Grant Anderson and José Leclerc each pitching a scoreless relief inning.
Barlow struck out the side in the seventh on just 14 pitches, and Anderson and Leclerc tossed seven pitches each to prevent the Jays from adding insurance runs.
“It’s getting better,” Bochy said of his confidence level in the bullpen. “It’s much improved. We still have a hiccup every now and then, but overall, I like that those guys are gaining confidence, and that’s what we need from them.
“It’s good to see José come out and do what he did. Anderson [pitched well] again. Barlow has thrown well in back-to-back games. So that’s good to see. It’s something for all of us to be encouraged about.”
In the end, though, Taveras’ homer was not enough offense to secure a win, giving the Rangers their fifth loss in their past six games.