You could've been forgiven before the season, I guess, if you thought that Jose Bautista was a fluke. But I don't think you could be forgiven anymore. Monday night, Bautista hit his eight home run - and fourth in four games - during a six-run fifth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays knocked off the Texas Rangers, 6-4.
Blue Jays Vs. Rangers: Jose Bautista Keeps Rolling As Toronto Beats Texas
For the first four innings, Kyle Drabek and Colby Lewis traded zeroes. Then the Blue Jays woke up in the fifth. With two on and two out, Corey Patterson fell behind in the count 0-2, then did this on a high fastball:
That three-run homer gave the Blue Jays the lead. On the very next pitch, Bautista took Lewis out to left field, and two batters after that, Juan Rivera ripped an opposite-field line drive that cleared the fence in right. The three home runs in the inning gave Toronto a six-run advantage, and made for the sixth, seventh and eighth home runs Lewis has allowed this year in four starts.
The Rangers immediately started chipping away at the deficit, getting a run back on a Yorvit Torrealba homer in the fifth and getting two more on RBI doubles by Ian Kinsler and Michael Young in the sixth, but the Toronto bullpen kept them fairly quiet from there, allowing only a Nelson Cruz solo shot in the ninth. Jon Rauch finished the game off for his fourth save of the season.
With the 6-4 loss, the Rangers fell to 14-8, and they have to be growing more concerned about Lewis’ ineffectiveness. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, improved to 10-12 with the win, and Bautista has hit five home runs and drawn nine walks in his last six games. He might even be better now than he was last year.
The series continues on Tuesday, with Jesse Litsch and Matt Harrison.
For more on the Blue Jays and Rangers, please check out team blogs Bluebird Banter and Lone Star Ball.
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