Read More: Jesse Litsch (P – TOR), Matt Harrison (P – TEX), Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto Blue Jays (10-12) at Texas Rangers (14-8)
Probable Starting Pitchers: Jesse Litsch (1-1, 3.63 ERA), Matt Harrison (3-1, 1.88 ERA)

The Texas Rangers saw their modest three-game winning streak snapped last night. Tonight, they’ll look to start a new streak as they host the Toronto Blue Jays in the second game of a four game set in Arlington.

Last night, Colby Lewis was hit hard and surrendered three home runs – to Corey Patterson, Jose Bautista and Juan Rivera. Matt Harrison takes the mound tonight for Texas and looks to avoid serving up the long ball like Lewis did last night. Harrison is coming off his first loss of the year, a start in which he allowed three runs in 6.2 innings of work, allowing just four hits and walking three while striking out five – still qualifying as a quality start and keeping his ERA at a modest 1.88. 

Harrison will be opposed by Jesse Litsch tonight, who, like Harrison, is coming off his first loss of the year. Litsch allowed six runs (four earned) on seven hits and a walk while striking out five in Toronto’s 8-1 loss to Boston on April 17th. Litsch sports a 3.63 ERA and 1.44 WHIP overall for the year and has struck out 16 batters in 17.1 innings of work.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. EST, 7:05 p.m. CST.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Colby Lewis is far from resembling the postseason ace he was for the Texas Rangers last October, no matter how good he says he felt.

Lewis gave up three homers in a span of four hitters for all the Toronto runs and walked four in his five innings to lose his third straight start, 6-4 on Monday night to the Blue Jays.

“I felt great,” Lewis said. “I felt like tonight was the best stuff I had all year, so I can’t get stuck on what happens in one inning, just move forward and take the first four and move on.”

The Blue Jays had two outs and Corey Patterson an 0-2 count in a scoreless game in the fifth when he took a big swing at a pitch coming at him about shoulder high. Patterson knocked it out of the park for a three-run homer, calling it a “1 in a 100″ shot.

“When you’re bitten, that’s the type of thing that happens,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “He tried to go up and out of the zone on him and he still hits a three-run home run. And then the rest of it happened so fast.”

Lewis turned and reacted in disbelief when Patterson was rounding the bases.

Jose Bautista hit the very next pitch 405 feet to left for his majors-leading eighth homer. After pitching coach Mike Maddux visited the mound, Adam Lind drew a walk and Juan Rivera hit his first homer of the season for a 6-0 lead.

“Just coming off the year that I had, maybe guys are looking at a lot of footage from last year and kind of sitting on those really good sliders down and away,” Lewis said. “For me, I think I got to continue what I was doing the first four innings. I elevated the ball to Patterson and who knew that he would stay on top of a ball that was at his eyes.”

Lewis (1-3), who was 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in four postseason starts last year when the Rangers went to the World Series for the first time, gave up six runs and seven hits while throwing 95 pitches in five innings. The right-hander has a 6.95 ERA this season and is the only Texas pitcher with multiple losses.

Yorvit Torrealba and Nelson Cruz homered for Texas, which was coming off a three-game weekend sweep of Kansas City.

Rangers designated hitter Michael Young extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI double off the right-field wall that made it 6-3 in the sixth. Ian Kinsler also had a run-scoring double in the inning.

Cruz ended a 13-game homerless drought when he led off the ninth with his sixth homer, a liner that just cleared the right-field wall off Blue Jays closer Jon Rauch, who then settled down for his fourth save in four chances this season.

The Blue Jays were coming off a 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay and had gone 15 consecutive innings without a run until their three-homer inning.

“It was good to see Corey Patterson take a pitch that might have been somewhat of a setup pitch on an 0-2 count up and away from him,” manager John Farrell said. “To see the six runs on the board was obviously good to see, and we made it hold up.”

Kyle Drabek (2-0), a 23-year-old rookie and Texas native, had gotten a no-decision in three consecutive starts that the Blue Jays won after he had pitched into at least the sixth. The right-hander gave up three runs and five hits in six innings against the Rangers.

The Rangers had three double plays and got a run-saving catch from left fielder David Murphy.

Toronto had two on and no out in the fourth when Lind hit a flyball slicing toward the left-field line. Murphy made a running catch with his glove fully extended, and both runners had to scurry back to the bases. Patterson was then thrown out trying to steal third.

Murphy made another nice catch in the seventh on a flyball by Patterson that turned into a double play when the relay through shortstop Elvis Andrus got Yunel Escobar before he could get back to first.

Each of Toronto’s first five innings ended on grounders to Andrus, who was back in the lineup after a day off following errors in three consecutive games. Andrus went deep in the hole toward third and made strong throws to get Bautista ending the first and leadoff hitter Escobar ending the third.

Notes: Cruz’s last homer was in second game of a doubleheader at Baltimore on April 9. … Toronto reliever Frank Francisco received his World Series ring from the Rangers before the game. Francisco spent his first six major league seasons with Texas. He made 56 appearances last year before missing the final month of the regular season and all the postseason with a muscle strain. He was traded to Toronto in January for catcher-first baseman Mike Napoli. … Texas is 6-2 in series openers this season.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Colby Lewis is far from resembling the postseason ace he was for the Texas Rangers last October, no matter how good he says he felt.

Lewis gave up three homers in a span of four hitters for all the Toronto runs and walked four in his five innings to lose his third straight start, 6-4 on Monday night to the Blue Jays.

“I felt great,” Lewis said. “I felt like tonight was the best stuff I had all year, so I can’t get stuck on what happens in one inning, just move forward and take the first four and move on.”

The Blue Jays had two outs and Corey Patterson an 0-2 count in a scoreless game in the fifth when he took a big swing at a pitch coming at him about shoulder high. Patterson knocked it out of the park for a three-run homer, calling it a “1 in a 100″ shot.

“When you’re bitten, that’s the type of thing that happens,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “He tried to go up and out of the zone on him and he still hits a three-run home run. And then the rest of it happened so fast.”

Lewis turned and reacted in disbelief when Patterson was rounding the bases.

Jose Bautista hit the very next pitch 405 feet to left for his majors-leading eighth homer. After pitching coach Mike Maddux visited the mound, Adam Lind drew a walk and Juan Rivera hit his first homer of the season for a 6-0 lead.

“Just coming off the year that I had, maybe guys are looking at a lot of footage from last year and kind of sitting on those really good sliders down and away,” Lewis said. “For me, I think I got to continue what I was doing the first four innings. I elevated the ball to Patterson and who knew that he would stay on top of a ball that was at his eyes.”

Lewis (1-3), who was 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in four postseason starts last year when the Rangers went to the World Series for the first time, gave up six runs and seven hits while throwing 95 pitches in five innings. The right-hander has a 6.95 ERA this season and is the only Texas pitcher with multiple losses.

Yorvit Torrealba and Nelson Cruz homered for Texas, which was coming off a three-game weekend sweep of Kansas City.

Rangers designated hitter Michael Young extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI double off the right-field wall that made it 6-3 in the sixth. Ian Kinsler also had a run-scoring double in the inning.

Cruz ended a 13-game homerless drought when he led off the ninth with his sixth homer, a liner that just cleared the right-field wall off Blue Jays closer Jon Rauch, who then settled down for his fourth save in four chances this season.

The Blue Jays were coming off a 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay and had gone 15 consecutive innings without a run until their three-homer inning.

“It was good to see Corey Patterson take a pitch that might have been somewhat of a setup pitch on an 0-2 count up and away from him,” manager John Farrell said. “To see the six runs on the board was obviously good to see, and we made it hold up.”

Kyle Drabek (2-0), a 23-year-old rookie and Texas native, had gotten a no-decision in three consecutive starts that the Blue Jays won after he had pitched into at least the sixth. The right-hander gave up three runs and five hits in six innings against the Rangers.

The Rangers had three double plays and got a run-saving catch from left fielder David Murphy.

Toronto had two on and no out in the fourth when Lind hit a flyball slicing toward the left-field line. Murphy made a running catch with his glove fully extended, and both runners had to scurry back to the bases. Patterson was then thrown out trying to steal third.

Murphy made another nice catch in the seventh on a flyball by Patterson that turned into a double play when the relay through shortstop Elvis Andrus got Yunel Escobar before he could get back to first.

Each of Toronto’s first five innings ended on grounders to Andrus, who was back in the lineup after a day off following errors in three consecutive games. Andrus went deep in the hole toward third and made strong throws to get Bautista ending the first and leadoff hitter Escobar ending the third.

Notes: Cruz’s last homer was in second game of a doubleheader at Baltimore on April 9. … Toronto reliever Frank Francisco received his World Series ring from the Rangers before the game. Francisco spent his first six major league seasons with Texas. He made 56 appearances last year before missing the final month of the regular season and all the postseason with a muscle strain. He was traded to Toronto in January for catcher-first baseman Mike Napoli. … Texas is 6-2 in series openers this season.

Corey Patterson and Jose Bautista homered on consecutive pitches, tough-luck starter Kyle Drabek finally got another victory and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the AL West-leading Texas Rangers 6-4 Monday night.

Patterson’s three-run shot off Colby Lewis (1-3) with two outs in the fifth was followed by Bautista’s 405-foot blast to left — his majors-leading eighth homer. After pitching coach Mike Maddux visited the mound, Adam Lind drew a walk and Juan Rivera followed with his first homer of the season for a 6-0 lead.

Drabek (2-0), a 23-year-old rookie and Texas native, had gotten a no-decision in three consecutive starts that the Blue Jays won after he had pitched into at least the sixth. The right-hander gave up three runs and five hits in six innings against the Rangers.

Texas designated hitter Michael Young extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI double off the right-field wall that made it 6-3 in the sixth. Ian Kinsler also had a run-scoring double in the inning.

Toronto entered the four-game series having lost 10 of 14 games overall, but is now 12-1 in its last 13 series openers dating to last season.

Jon Rauch worked the ninth, giving up a leadoff homer to Nelson Cruz, before closing out his fourth save in four chances.

The Blue Jays were coming off a 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay and had gone 15 consecutive innings without a run until their three-homer barrage in the fifth.

Yorvit Torrealba homered in the bottom of the inning for Texas.

Lewis gave up six runs and seven hits while throwing 95 pitches in five innings, with three strikeouts and four walks.

The postseason ace last season when Texas went to its first World Series, Lewis has lost his last three starts and has an 6.95 ERA this season. He has lost both starts since returning last week from being the first player ever to go on Major League Baseball’s paternity leave list.

The Rangers had three double plays and got a run-saving catch from left fielder David Murphy, but only the fans can grab the long balls that went into the stands.

Toronto had two on and no out in the fourth when Lind hit a flyball slicing toward the left-field line. Murphy made a running catch with his glove fully extended, and both runners had to scurry back to the bases. Patterson was then thrown out trying to steal third.

Murphy made another nice catch in the seventh on a flyball by Patterson that turned into a double play when the relay through shortstop Elvis Andrus got Yunel Escobar before he could get back to first.

Each of Toronto’s first five innings ended on grounders to Andrus, who was back in the lineup after a day off following errors in three consecutive games. Andrus went deep in the hole toward third and made strong throws to get Bautista ending the first and leadoff hitter Escobar ending the third.

Notes: Toronto most previously hit three homers in an inning last Aug. 7 against Tampa Bay. Lind, Aaron Hill and Edwin Encarnacion had those. … Toronto reliever Frank Francisco received his World Series ring from the Rangers before the game. Francisco spent his first six major league seasons with Texas. He made 56 appearances last year before missing the final month of the regular season and all the postseason with a muscle strain. He was traded to Toronto in January for catcher-first baseman Mike Napoli. … Texas is 6-2 in series openers this season.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) – Former Texas Rangers president J. Thomas Schieffer has been hired to run the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Commissioner Bud Selig made the appointment Monday, less than a week after Major League Baseball took over operation of the franchise from owner Frank McCourt.

Schieffer was the club president from 1991 to 1999 and the Rangers’ general partner from November 1994 until June 1998.

“Tom is a distinguished public servant who has represented the nation with excellence and has demonstrated extraordinary leadership throughout his career,” Selig said in a statement.

Selig also said that Schieffer’s longtime experience in managing the Rangers will benefit the Dodgers franchise.

Schieffer was the club’s partner in charge of ballpark development before the 1994 opening of the Rangers’ new stadium. The Rangers won their first three AL West titles in 1996 and 1998-99 during Schieffer’s tenure.

As the president of the Rangers, Schieffer was a member of several MLB committees and boards, including the 1999 Blue Ribbon Task Force on Baseball Economics.

The 63-year-old Fort Worth native also served three terms as a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives after being elected at the age of 25.

Schieffer also served as the U.S. ambassador to Australia from 2001-05 and then as the ambassador to Japan from 2005-09 under President George W. Bush.

The Dodgers have been in near constant turmoil since October 2009, when Jamie McCourt filed for divorce a week after husband Frank fired her as the team’s chief executive.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

(Copyright ©2011 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

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