ARLINGTON, Texas - Nicky Lopez kept putting the ball in play while Toronto tried to walk its way through the night.
The Rangers second baseman finished 2-for-5 and scored in a four-run second Friday at Globe Life Field as Texas beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-1, per ESPN's box. Texas reached .500 for a majors-leading 23rd time and pulled even with Houston atop the American League West after Atlanta beat the Astros 6-2, the Associated Press reported.
Lopez did not drive in a run. He did something quieter and just as useful on a night built from traffic: he reached twice, occupied bases, and scored when the next batter did the work.
Occupying the bases in the second
Lopez was safe at third when the inning broke open. Evan Carter's bases-loaded grounder scored Wyatt Langford, and Jake Burger came home on shortstop Ernie Clement's throwing error, the AP wrote. Lopez scored on Ezequiel Duran's sacrifice fly for a 3-0 lead. Corey Seager's RBI double made it 4-0.
Dylan Cease (11-6) walked a season-high six among his first 15 batters and was pulled with two outs in the third after 38 balls and 36 strikes. Five of Texas' seven runs were unearned; Toronto walked 10 and committed three throwing errors, two by Kazuma Okamoto.
Lopez's two hits fit a lineup that scored seven times without a home run - singles and doubles stacked on free passes.
ESPN's box lists Lopez 2-for-5 with a run scored. CBS Sports matches that multi-hit line. In September, second basemen who keep innings alive rarely get the loudest headlines. They still show up in the scoring summary.
West race back to even
Texas improved to 77-77 and sits one game behind the Chicago White Sox for the third AL wild card, though Chicago holds the tiebreaker, the AP noted. Toronto fell to 76-78, two games back in the wild-card race. The Rangers would still need to win the West outright to finish ahead of Houston on a tie.
