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Gomez homers twice, Texas wins 11-4 for split with Blue Jays

Posted June 22, 2017 7:00 am

By STEPHEN HAWKINS

Texas Rangers' Carlos Gomez points skyward as he approaches the plate celebrating his two-run home run that came off a pitch from Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Cesar Valdez in the seventh inning of a baseball game, Thursday, June 22, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. The homer, Gomez' second of the game, scored Adrian Beltre. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) The Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Carlos Gomez homered twice to drive in five runs and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 11-4 on Thursday for a split of the four-game series.

Mike Napoli and Robinson Chirinos also homered for the Rangers off Marcus Stroman (7-4).

Gomez has five homers in his six games since returning from the disabled list last week after missing a month with a right hamstring strain. His three-run shot in the third ricocheted off the left-field foul pole and put Texas up 6-0, then he added a two-run homer in the seventh off reliever Cesar Valdez.

Texas (36-36) won for the ninth time in 13 games to get back to .500 before playing 20 of its next 26 games on the road.

The Blue Jays (35-37), who beat Texas in the AL Division Series each of the past two seasons, lost for the ninth straight time when they had a chance to reach .500 for the first time this season. They have been outscored 73-24 in those nine losses.

Martin Perez (4-6) went six innings, and all four runs he allowed came in the fifth. The lefty gave up nine hits, at least one in each inning, with three strikeouts, two walks and a hit batter.

Adrian Beltre put the Rangers ahead to stay with an RBI double in the first, and Napoli's 14th homer was a two-run shot in the second. Chirinos made it 7-0 when he homered in the fourth.

Beltre added another double in the seventh, his 2,962nd hit, one behind Sam Crawford for 33rd all-time. He had a sacrifice fly in the eighth for his 1,587th RBI.

Stroman allowed a season-high seven runs over four innings, with five strikeouts. The right-hander has lost consecutive starts after going 6-0 in his 10 games before that.

All of Toronto's runs came with two outs in the fifth. Dwight Smith Jr. was hit by a pitch, then scored on a double by Luke Maile. Russell Martin and Kendrys Morales had RBI singles, and another run scored on an error.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Blue Jays: 3B Josh Donaldson was a late scratch from the lineup as the DH because of left knee soreness. ... LF Steve Pearce didn't play a day after bruising his right knee when crashing into the wall on Joey Gallo's inside-the-park home run.

Rangers: RHP Jeremy Jeffress (strained lower back muscle) was put on the 10-day DL, and RHP Preston Claiborne's contract was purchased from Triple-A Round Rock. Jeffress first felt something wrong when warming up before pitching Tuesday. "The next morning I couldn't get up out of bed," he said.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: J.A. Happ (2-4) starts the opener of a weekend series in Kansas City.

Rangers: Yu Darvish (6-5) pitches against the New York Yankees in his first MLB matchup against fellow Japanese starter Masahiro Tanaka (5-7).

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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

Home plate umpire Greg Gibson, left, Texas Rangers' Carlos Gomez, center, and Toronto Blue Jays' Luke Maile all watch the flight of Gomez's three-run home run ball down the left field line during the third inning of a baseball game, Thursday, June 22, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. The homer scored Rougned Odor and Adrian Beltre. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) The Associated Press

Toronto Blue Jays catcher Luke Maile tags out Texas Rangers' Elvis Andrus, who was trying to score on a fielder's choice hit into by Adrian Beltre, during the third inning of a baseball game, Thursday, June 22, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) The Associated Press

Toronto Blue Jays' Jose Bautista, left, crosses the plate behind Texas Rangers' Robinson Chirinos, scoring on a single by Kendrys Morales in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, June 22, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) The Associated Press

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Martin Perez throws to the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, June 22, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) The Associated Press

Texas Rangers' Adrian Beltre follows through on a run-scoring double to left that came off a pitch from Toronto Blue Jays' Marcus Stroman in the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, June 22, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. The hit, that was Beltre's 2961st career hit, scored Elvis Andrus. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) The Associated Press

Toronto Blue Jays catcher Luke Maile stands off the plate as home plate umpire Greg Gibson watches Texas Rangers' Elvis Andrus cross the plate on a Adrian Beltre double in the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, June 22, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) The Associated Press

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman throws to the Texas Rangers in the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, June 22, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) The Associated Press

Toronto Blue Jays' Kendrys Morales swings and connects for a run-scoring single off a pitch from Texas Rangers' Martin Perez in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, June 22, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. The hit scored Jose Bautista. Russell Martin also scored on the play on a fielding error by the Rangers right fielder, Shin-Soo Choo. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) The Associated Press

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