Gausman pitches 5 no-hit innings and Guerrero goes deep twice as Blue Jays beat Rangers 4-0

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Kevin Gausman throws to the Texas Rangers in the first inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -

Kevin Gausman pitched five no-hit innings before exiting with lower back tightness, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit two solo homers after that and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers 4-0 on Thursday to avoid a series sweep.

Texas managed only two singles against Gausman and four relievers.

Gausman (13-11) struck out six and the only runner he allowed was on a walk in the fifth. The 33-year-old right-hander, who threw 38 of his 58 pitches for strikes, said he had a weird feeling in his back after throwing his final warmup pitch before the first inning.

“Was happy to get through five,” Gausman said. “Yeah, weird day for me. I had a no-no going and I came out of the game, which is crazy. ... With how bad I felt physically, I don’t know how I didn’t give up hits to be honest.”

Dillon Tate struck out two of the three batters he faced in a perfect sixth after Gausman told manager John Schneider he was done. Génesis Cabrera then took over in the seventh, and Josh Smith lined the first pitch sharply into right-center for a hit, though he was thrown out trying to stretch it for a double.

“I had to make sure he knew he had a no-hitter going when he said he was good and he did,” Schneider said. “Pitch count was good, I thought his stuff was good. Splitter was probably the best it’s been in a while. Just didn’t want to take any chances with him with the way he’s feeling.”

Guerrero has 30 homers after going deep in the seventh and ninth innings. His first multi-homer game this season was the 10th in his career.

The reigning World Series champion Rangers (73-80) were officially eliminated from the AL West race, falling 9 1/2 games behind the division-leading Houston Astros with nine games to play. Texas was seven back in the wild-card race.

Rangers rookie Kumar Rocker (0-1) struck out five, walked four and hit a batter over three innings in his second career start. He was the Rangers’ first-round draft pick two years ago, and allowed two runs (one earned) in what will be his only appearance at home this season.

The closest the Rangers came to a hit against Gausman was when Adolis García hit a sharp grounder along the first-base line that went foul leading off the fifth inning. García then took a called third strike on an 85.2 mph slider that appeared to be low. Nathaniel Lowe walked on four pitches before Gausman struck out the final two batters he faced.

Toronto left six runners on base in three innings against Rocker. The Blue Jays got a run in the second without a hit, with Nathan Lukes hitting a sacrifice fly after the bases were loaded on two walks and a hit batter. They scored in the third on a two-out error by third baseman Ezequiel Duran.

“You’re seeing a very mature man here that he doesn’t get fazed by anything,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said of Rocker. “He did a good job limiting damage. The walks were hurting him and the command was off, but he still he continued to try to make pitches and should really have only given up one run.”

BLANKS

The Blue Jays recorded their ninth shutout victory of the season, a day after losing 2-0 at Texas. The Rangers were held scoreless for the 10th time this season.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette was put on the injured list with a broken right middle finger after returning for only one game after he had been out more than eight weeks with a calf injury. He played Tuesday night in his first game since July 19, but broke his finger taking groundballs before Wednesday's game, when he was a late scratch from the lineup.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: Open their final road trip of the season Friday night at Tampa Bay. RHP José Berríos (16-9, 3.44 ERA) is 7-0 with a 1.51 ERA over his last seven starts.

Rangers: Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom (0-0, 0.00) makes his second start since elbow surgery last summer when he starts the series opener at home against the Mariners. It comes a week after he threw 61 pitches over 3 2/3 innings in Seattle in his first big league start since April 28, 2023.