ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) \u2014 Toronto leadoff hitter Brett Bateman reached base and scored three times, twice knocked in by Nathan Lukes, and the Blue Jays beat the AL West-leading Texas Rangers 7-2 on Sunday to avoid a series sweep in the matchup of playoff hopefuls.<\/p>\n
Bateman walked twice against Texas starter Jacob deGrom<\/a> (11-10), scoring on a sacrifice fly by Lukes in the first and a go-ahead RBI single by Kazuma Okamota in the fifth. Bateman had a leadoff double to ignite a four-run seventh, scoring on a single by Lukes.<\/p>\n With six games remaining, the Rangers (78-78) kept a one-game lead in the AL West after Houston (77-79) lost 4-2 at home<\/a> to NL East champion Atlanta. The Astros own the division tiebreaker.<\/p>\n Toronto (77-79) had the same record as the Astros, and both were 2 1\/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox for the third and final wild card.<\/p>\n Spencer Arrighetti (9-9), the second of seven Blue Jays pitchers, got the win despite giving up the only Texas runs over his two innings.<\/p>\n DeGrom, who has been dealing with mild groin tightness, left with the bases loaded in the fifth and the Rangers down 3-2. Left-handed reliever Robert Garcia induced an inning-ending double-play grounder on his first pitch.<\/p>\n DeGrom allowed five hits, walked four and hit another batter. The two-time Cy Young Award winner’s two strikeouts put his season total at 196, just short of his fifth career 200-strikeout season.<\/p>\n Lukes had a single and scored on Sean Keys’ double in the third for a 2-0 Blue Jays lead. Texas got even on Jake Burger’s 27th homer<\/a>, a two-run shot in the fourth that went 398 feet and deflected off Bateman’s extended glove when he leaped at the wall in center field.<\/p>\n Up next<\/p>\n Toronto opens a three-game series in Baltimore on Monday night. The Rangers have a day off before opening their final home series Tuesday night against the New York Mets.<\/p>\n