Rangers-Blue Jays: Texas' Power Bats Deal Roy Halladay First Loss of Season

After a disappointing 2-4 home stand, the Rangers went on the road looking to right the ship. With three games in Toronto and four in Baltimore, Texas needed to get the offense back into the rhythm that was showcased during opening week.

Before Tuesday night's game, the Rangers knew it was going to be difficult to get back in that rhythm as they faced one of the most consistent and dominate pitchers in all of baseball, Roy Halladay.

Halladay was already 3-0 on the season coming into the game, but the one team that he has had struggles with in his career is the Rangers, with a lifetime 8-7 record and an ERA above five.

In the first inning Halladay looked dominate, with early strikeouts of Michael Young and Hank Blalock. In the second, however, Nelson Cruz launched a Halladay pitch into deep left field for a two-run homer.

The Blue Jays got both runs back in the third behind an Alex Rios RBI double and a Vernon Wells sacrifice fly.

Texas took the lead back in the next inning when Blalock led off with an opposite-field double to left. He later scored on a single by Chris Davis.

Once again, though, the Blue Jays tied it back up with a solo home run in the fifth from second baseman Aaron Hill, his fifth of the season.

Not to be outdone by his Toronto second base counterpart, Ian Kinsler one-upped Hill in the seventh inning. Kinsler homered on a Halladay fastball to right field, a two-run shot that gave the Rangers a 5-3 lead.

This left the lead, the final three innings, and the game up to the Rangers bullpen.

Eddie Guardado retired the single batter he faced, and then Jason Jennings took care of the rest of the seventh without any problems.

In the eighth, however, Rios reached on a throwing error from rookie Elvis Andrus—the first of his career. That error would cost the Rangers a run, when Adam Lind singled off reliever C.J. Wilson to score Rios.

Texas then brought in closer Frank Francisco with one on and one out in the eighth inning. He would allow the first two batters to reach and loaded the bases with only one out.

But with the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second, Francisco got former Rangers catcher Rod Barajas to line out to third baseman Michael Young. Young’s snag saved both Francisco and the team, as Scott Rolen standing at second would have easily scored on the play.

Francisco closed out the eighth by getting rookie Travis Snider to fly out to center field.

The Rangers offense did nothing in the top of the ninth, and Francisco retired the first batter, Marco Scutaro, to start the bottom of the ninth.

But then Hill got his second hit and second extra-base hit of the game when he doubled to left field.

Rios grounded out to Andrus for the second out, and Hill advanced to third.

Texas then had a decision to make: face power-hitting Wells or Jorge Bautista, who pinch ran for Lind in the eighth inning.

The decision seemed to be pretty apparent when Francisco burned 94 and 96 MPH fastballs past Wells.  The next pitch was a 95 MPH fastball that Wells could only pop up to Andrus at short for the final out of the game.

Despite taking the loss, Halladay still went eight innings, allowing five runs on only eight hits and striking out nine.

Rangers starter Brandon McCarthy got his second win of the season in his second consecutive quality start, allowing three earned runs on six hits, and walking and striking out two batters each as well.

Texas' offense was led by timely hitting, going 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and by home runs from Kinsler and Cruz, their fifth and sixth, respectively.

Texas and Toronto will play their second game of the series tonight when both teams have young talent take the mound in Matt Harrison (0-2) for the Rangers and David Purcey (0-1) for the Blue Jays.