Williams' four scoreless seal Rangers' 7-1 win over Blue Jays

ARLINGTON, Texas - Trevor Williams inherited a lead and refused to give Toronto a path back.

The right-hander worked four scoreless innings Friday night at Globe Life Field - two hits, no walks, four strikeouts on 49 pitches - and earned the win (2-0) as the Texas Rangers 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.

Williams entered after starter Kumar Rocker and Tyler Alexander. Rocker had taken a 4-0 lead into the fifth but could not finish the inning; Toronto scratched across its only run on Myles Straw's RBI double. Alexander recorded an out. Then Williams took the ball for the sixth and threw until the ninth was over.

Clean innings after a messy Toronto start

The Rangers had already built their cushion in the second. Evan Carter's bases-loaded grounder and a throwing error by shortstop Ernie Clement scored Wyatt Langford and Jake Burger. Ezequiel Duran's sacrifice fly and Corey Seager's RBI double made it 4-0, the AP wrote.

Dylan Cease (11-6) walked six of his first 15 batters and exited 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. Williams' assignment was simpler than the early chaos: throw strikes, keep the Blue Jays off the bases, and let a 4-1 lead become a 7-1 final. He allowed two hits across four innings, issued no walks, and struck out four. CBS Sports' pitching line matches ESPN's box.

Texas added insurance without needing Williams to face a late crisis. Burger's sacrifice fly in the fifth scored Brandon Nimmo. Langford walked with the bases loaded in the sixth. Burger doubled home Langford in the eighth. Williams kept putting up zeros while the lineup finished the job.

Bullpen win in a September race

A four-inning relief win is bulk work, not a one-out save. Williams' ERA sits at 2.73 after the outing, per ESPN's box. Rocker's line was 4 1/3 innings, three hits, one run, two walks and two strikeouts - enough to hand Williams a lead, not enough to qualify for the win.

The bullpen bridge mattered on a night when Cease could not find the zone and Texas still needed someone to close nine innings cleanly.

The Rangers improved to 77-77 and sit one game behind the White Sox for the third AL wild card, though Chicago owns the tiebreaker, the AP noted. Toronto dropped to 76-78, two games back in the wild-card hunt.

Nathan Lukes' 13-game hitting streak - the longest active streak in the majors - ended when he was lifted for a pinch-hitter after an 0-for-2 start; Carter ran down Lukes' deep liner at the wall in right-center, the AP wrote.

Quantrill vs. Soriano next

Saturday's pitching matchup lists Cal Quantrill (9-5, 2.90 ERA) for Texas against Jose Soriano (12-7, 3.56) for Toronto. Williams will not start that game. He already absorbed the long middle of Friday - four innings, no free passes, a win that left Texas sharing first place in the West.

September bullpens win races one quiet inning at a time. Williams' four scoreless did exactly that while the Rangers turned Toronto's walks and errors into a 7-1 result at Globe Life Field.

Sources

ESPN

ESPN

CBS Sports

CBS Sports