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Rasmus leads Blue Jays over Rangers

Aug 1, 2011 - 2:47 AM Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Colby Rasmus had two hits and two RBI for his new club as the Toronto Blue Jays took down the Texas Rangers, 7-3, in the rubber match of a three-game weekend set.

Rasmus was acquired from St. Louis on Wednesday in exchange for outfielder Corey Patterson and pitchers Marc Rzepczynski and Octavio Dotel. The Blue Jays also picked up pitchers P.J. Walters, Brian Tallet and Trever Miller in addition to Rasmus.

Brandon Morrow (8-5) threw seven strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out a season-high 11 batters in the Jays' fifth win in seven games.

C.J. Wilson (10-5) lasted just 3 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs -- five earned -- on seven hits and three walks for the loss.

Mike Napoli knocked in two runs for the Rangers, losers in five of their last eight.

After Jose Bautista walked with two outs in the first, Edwin Encarnacion hammered a ball into the seats in left field to give the Jays an early 2-0 lead.

"It just wasn't his day," Rangers manager Ron Washington said of his starter's rough outing. "He couldn't find the plate on Bautista, and on a 3-2 count, he just got a fastball up and Encarnacion got it."

Jose Molina led off the second with a grounder to short that Andres Blanco threw well over the head of first baseman Mitch Moreland, allowing Molina to take second. Aaron Hill's groundout moved Molina to third and John McDonald followed with an RBI single into center.

Rasmus started the third with a liner into center field for his first hit as a Blue Jay. Endy Chavez misplayed the short-hop and it bounced past him, allowing Rasmus to reach second on the fielding error. A Wilson wild pitch moved Rasmus to third, and after Bautista walked, Encarnacion grounded into a run scoring double play to give Toronto a four-run advantage.

"I was definitely glad to get it out of the way, it's a little weight off my shoulders," Rasmus said of getting his first in in a Jays uniform. "I was just glad to contribute today and help us win."

Toronto kept the runs coming in the fourth with an RBI single by J.P. Arencibia and a two-run double by Rasmus.

Texas got on the board in the sixth. Josh Hamilton hit a two-out single and came around to score on a Michael Young double. Napoli followed with a base hit up the middle to make it a 7-2 game.

The Rangers added a run in the eighth on a Napoli RBI double.

Game Notes

Prior to the game, the Toronto Blue Jays had a ceremony in which they retired former second baseman and recent Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar's jersey number...Toronto improved to 12-7 in games started by Morrow...Young extended his hit streak to nine games...Texas fell to 17-16 in day games this year.