Story thread · 16 reports / 11 sources

Playoff hopeful Blue Jays avoid series sweep with win over AL West-leading Texas

nbcdfw.com · 8h · first reportShare

Toronto leadoff hitter Brett Bateman reached base and scored three times, twice knocked in by Nathan Lukes, and the Blue Jays beat the AL West-leading Texas Rangers 7-2 on Sunday to avoid a series sweep in the matchup of playoff hopefuls. Bateman walked twice against Texas starter Jacob deGrom (11-10), scoring on a sacrifice fly by Lukes in the first and a go-ahead RBI single by Kazuma Okamota in the fifth. Bateman had a leadoff double to ignite a four-run seventh, scoring on a single by Lukes. With six games remaining, the Rangers (78-78) kept a one-game lead in the AL West after Houston (77-79) lost 4-2 at home to NL East champion Atlanta. The Astros own the division tiebreaker. Toronto (77-79) had the same record as the Astros, and both were 2 1/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox for the third and final wild card. Spencer Arrighetti (9-9), the second of seven Blue Jays pitchers, got the win despite giving up the only Texas runs over his two innings. DeGrom, who has been dealing wi