MLB: The Blue Jays are crushed by the Rangers to start the series

A grand slam by Jonah Heim in the seventh inning stunned the Toronto Blue Jays, who fell 10-4 to start a crucial four-game series against the Texas Rangers on Monday.

“Every game is important at this point,” Heim said. No matter the opponent or where we are, every match matters. We will focus on one match at a time and do our best to win. »

The two teams are competing for a spot in the qualifiers as an American team. The Jays are clinging to second place, a half-game ahead of the Seattle Mariners and Rangers.

Tomorrow, the Jays will have a lot to do against Max Scherzer, who will face Hyun-Jin Ryu on the mound.

“It’s a big series, yeah, but we’re playing very well,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. I like the way the players handle things. It doesn’t matter if you lose by one or six points. We did some really good things, so moving on to tomorrow’s game. »

The Rangers opened the scoring in an unusual way. Rookie Chris Bassett was penalized for erratic feints in the second inning by leaving his plate third down too much while trying to trap Mitch Garver at third base, which cost Toronto a point by allowing the latter to cross the marble line.

The Blue Jays tied the score when Davis Schneider went to score from second base on a single by Alexandro Kirk.

With the goals scored, George Springer’s slap made it 2-1 to Cavan Biggio.

However, Evan Carter tied the game with his first home run in the Majors, in the third inning, hitting the ball to far right.

In the fourth inning, Kevin Kiermaier was retired by Jonah Heim at the plate on a very tight throw from left fielder Evan Carter that required a video replay and the Jays were checked during that inning. But Heim wasn’t done talking about it.

The Rangers increased their lead to 5-2 in the sixth inning and things got worse for the Jays when Bassett gave way to Genesis Cabrera on the mound. He lasted only two-thirds of the round, giving Heim a fatal grand slam that brought the score to 10-3 in favor of the visitors.

Cavan Biggio hit a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth in desperate cause.

The belt leaves the match

Designated hitter Brandon Belt was removed from the game in the bottom of the sixth inning due to lower back muscle spasms.

He fell ill in recent days and tried to return to playing after missing the last eight matches due to back pain.

He was 0-for-2 after being struck out twice before being replaced by Spencer Horowitz.

Belt, who is playing his first season with the Jays, has a .251 batting average in 97 games with 16 home runs and 38 RBIs.