Texas Rangers prevent three-game sweep with 6-4 win over Toronto Blue Jays

TORONTO – Adrian Beltre hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning and David Murphy added another solo shot an inning later as the Texas Rangers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6-4 on Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre.

After spotting the Blue Jays an early four-run lead, Texas (37-25) scored six unanswered runs to salvage the finale of the three-game series and end Toronto’s three-game winning streak. Reliever Neal Cotts (2-0) worked one inning for the win and Joe Nathan recorded the last three outs for his 19th save.

Adam Lind hit a three-run homer for Toronto (27-35). The Blue Jays had six hits on the day and did all of their scoring in the third inning off Texas starter Justin Grimm.

Melky Cabrera reached on a two-out walk and moved to second on an infield single by Jose Bautista. Edwin Encarnacion’s single brought Cabrera home and set the stage for Lind, who took a 1-0 pitch deep for his sixth homer of the year.

Toronto starter Josh Johnson held the Rangers off the board for the first three innings before Texas halved the lead in the fourth.

Nelson Cruz hit a solo shot — his 15th homer of the year — and Chris McGuiness had an RBI double after a David Murphy walk. Johnson got Leonys Martin to ground out with two runners on to end the rally.

The Rangers made it a one-run game an inning later.

A.J. Pierzynski doubled down the right-field line and moved to third on an infield single by Beltre. Pierzynski scored when Cruz singled to left.

Johnson got Murphy to pop up with runners on the corners to preserve Toronto’s lead. The Jays right-hander allowed five hits, three earned runs and four walks while striking out four.

Juan Perez came on in relief in the sixth inning and put runners on the corners with one out.

Texas tied the game after catcher Josh Thole threw the ball well wide of second base on Craig Gentry’s steal. That allowed Leury Garcia to trot home with an unearned run and Gentry moved to third base.

Gentry later made a baserunning gaffe, which allowed Toronto to record a double play to get out of the inning. Elvis Andrus flared a ball into shallow centre field and second baseman Emilio Bonifacio made a nice over-the-shoulder catch for the second out.

Gentry broke for home way too early and was doubled off.

In the bottom half, Colby Rasmus hit a one-out single and Thole walked. Andy LaRoche flew out, ending Grimm’s day. Neal Cotts came on and got pinch-hitter Mark DeRosa on a strikeout.

Grimm allowed five hits, four earned runs and three walks while striking out six.

Toronto reliever Neil Wagner (1-1) replaced Perez with two out in the seventh inning. Beltre greeted him to the game by hitting his 14th homer of the season.

The Blue Jays put two runners on in the seventh inning but Lind grounded out for the third out.

Dustin McGowan came on in the eighth and Murphy took his first pitch over the wall for his eighth homer of the year. The Rangers had nine hits on the afternoon.

Bautista was ejected in the bottom of the ninth after arguing with home-plate umpire Gary Darling. Bautista struck out with two runners in scoring position and Nathan then got Encarnacion to pop up to end it.

Announced attendance was 42,722 and the game took two hours 58 minutes to play.

Notes: Toronto recalled right-hander Thad Weber from triple-A Buffalo before the game. Fellow reliever Brad Lincoln was sent down to the Bisons on Saturday night. … The Blue Jays will kick off a seven-game road trip Monday night in Chicago. Toronto will send knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (5-7) to the mound for the opener of the three-game series. The White Sox will counter with Dylan Axelrod (3-4). The Blue Jays will complete the trip with a four-game set against Texas. … The Blue Jays selected 40 players in the MLB first-year player draft over the last few days. Toronto picked right-hander Phil Bickford from Oaks Christian High School in California with the No. 10 overall selection. … McGuiness, who was called up from triple-A on Friday, recorded his first major-league hit in the fourth inning. … Beltre extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest current streak in the American League.