Gausman outduels deGrom as Blue Jays stymie Rangers

Kevin Gausman allowed only a solo home run over eight innings and Daulton Varsho homered among his three hits as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the struggling Texas Rangers 2-1 on Monday in Arlington, Texas.
Gausman (5-4) scattered five hits while striking out six and not walking a batter in outdueling Rangers ace Jacob deGrom. Jeff Hoffman retired the side in order to earn his 11th save as Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak.
The Blue Jays won despite scoring just two runs — and have a total of four runs in their last four games.
The Rangers were led by the two hits of rookie outfielder Alejandro Osuna in another anemic offensive performance. The team has scored one or fewer runs in 14 its 29 losses this season.
Texas has lost seven of its past eight games and scored just 20 total runs over that stretch.
Varsho touched up deGrom (4-2) in the first inning, rifling a shot into the right field stands with two outs to stake the Blue Jays to a 1-0 lead.
Toronto added to its lead in the fourth as Alejandro Kirk’s sacrifice fly drove home Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who had singled to open the frame and advanced to third on Varsho’s ground-rule double.
The Rangers got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on Wyatt Langford’s line-drive, solo home run over the fence in left field.
A two-time Cy Young Award winner, deGrom allowed both Blue Jays runs on five hits while walking two and not striking out a batter. It was the first time in his career he did not strike out a batter in a start, snapping a 228-game streak over 12 seasons.
Texas put only three batters on base after Langford’s home run.