ARLINGTON, Texas — Vernon Wells homered two more times in his homecoming series, Jason Frasor pitched an uneventful ninth after blowing a save on opening day and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers 7-4 on Wednesday night.
Wells’ tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth put Toronto ahead to stay, and he led off the ninth with another drive.
The longest-tenured Blue Jays player in his 12th season, Wells grew up in Arlington and still lives in the area. This is the first time he has gotten to open a season at home, and he has three homers in the two games.
Rich Harden had an erratic debut for the Rangers, with eight strikeouts and plenty of misses without getting a decision. The right-hander was done after giving up consecutive bases-loaded walks in the fourth.
Brian Tallet (1-0) allowed four runs, two earned, and four hits in 6 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays. He struck out six and walked three.
Tallet, one of three left-handers in Toronto’s rotation, bounced back nicely after allowing homers to Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz on consecutive pitches in the fourth, tying it at 3.
Kevin Gregg followed with 1 1/3 perfect innings before Frasor, who gave up two runs in the ninth inning of Toronto’s 5-4 loss on Monday, worked around a leadoff double in the ninth.
Toronto led 6-3 midway through the seventh despite only two hits at that time — the homer by Wells off Dustin Nippert (0-1) and a solo shot by Alex Gonzalez that was the only hit allowed by Harden.
Wells, who scored four times, was hit by a pitch leading off the top of the fourth, then Harden walked a batter and struck out another before third baseman Michael Young‘s error loaded the bases. After a shallow fly ball, Harden walked the No. 9 batter and another that put Toronto up 3-1.
Harden, who can make as much as $9 million with the free-agent deal he signed over the winter, walked five.
After Harden walked the game’s first batter, he struck out five of the next six until Gonzalez led off the third with a 409-foot homer to left-center.
Nippert walked four in 2 2/3 innings, including Wells in the seventh when Toronto produced a run with two walks, a hit batter and a sacrifice fly by Edwin Encarnacion.
Texas grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first. Young walked and scored when Cruz’s two-out grounder went between third baseman Encarnacion’s legs for an error.
Notes
Rangers manager Ron Washington says “it’d be a miracle” for 2B Ian Kinsler to play in the season-opening, six-game homestand. Kinsler is on the disabled list for an ankle injury. He has hit, but isn’t taking grounders yet. … Toronto had two errors on one play in the seventh, right fielder Jose Bautista‘s bobble and shortstop Gonzalez’s bad throw after the relay to put runners on second and third. That led to an unearned run when Julio Borbon grounded out.