ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night. Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers. Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season.
He is hitting .345 in September. “I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said.
“I’m just going to keep trying to do that.” Heim was 1 for 34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .
212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning. Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on.
It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7. Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7. Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers.
Eovaldi, who will be a free ag.