TORONTO -- Rookie right-hander Marcus Stroman blanked Texas for seven innings and Dan Johnson drove home two runs as the Toronto Blue Jays held on to defeat the lowly Rangers 4-1 Saturday afternoon.
Toronto, which outhit Texas 12-6, survived the bases loaded with two outs in the eighth inning thanks to a Dustin McGowan strikeout -- his third of the inning -- of Jake Smolinski.
Stroman (5-2) held the Rangers to four hits during his stint, striking out five with no walks while throwing 107 pitches including 70 strikes.
The 23-year-old Stroman, in his ninth career start, got stronger as the game wore on. After giving up back-to-back singles to open the fourth inning, he retired 12 straight with four strikeouts.
Left-hander Aaron Loup, rather than right-handed closer Casey Janssen, pitched the ninth for his third save. An opening walk was negated by J.P. Arencibia hitting into a double play before Rougned Odor flied out.
After dropping the series opener 5-1, Toronto (50-48) came into the game having lost three straight and nine of its last 11.
Despite snapping an eight-game losing streak with Friday's win, the numbers were still ugly for injury-plagued Texas. The Rangers (39-58) came into Saturday's contest 2-12 in July and had lost 14 of 16 and 22 of 26.
Texas' winning percentage of .406 was worst in the majors.
Misfiring at the plate in recent days, the Jays looked to find runs any way they could before a sellout crowd of 45,802 under the roof at Rogers Centre thanks to the threat of rain. Centre-fielder Colby Rasmus showed that in the fifth when, facing a shift, he bunted down the empty third-base line to get on base.
The Jays, outscored 18-4 in their three previous losses, looked to steal bases, sacrifice and take advantage of any fielding hesitation by the Rangers to get on base and advance runners. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't but the home side scratched out enough offence to win.
Stroman and Texas' Colby Lewis were both coming off rough starts, coincidentally on consecutive days against the Angels. Stroman gave up six runs in 3 2/3 innings before Lewis coughed up 13 runs in 2 1/3 innings, raising his ERA to 6.54 from 5.51.
Lewis (6-7) pitched five innings, giving up two runs on eight hits. He struck out five and walked three.
Both teams feature patchwork rosters due to the injury bug, with seven active catchers between them.
The Rangers' injury woes grew Saturday when right-fielder Alex Rios sprained his right ankle in his first trip to the plate. Rios, a former Jay, was unable to continue his at-bat and left the game. He was replaced by Daniel Robertson. X-rays were negative and Rios was listed as day-to-day.
It was also a painful first inning for Jays catcher Dioner Navarro, who fouled a ball off the top of his shin but was able to continue.
Johnson, the Jays first baseman, turned heads in the inning with two fine catches in foul territory, twisting his body to haul down the soaring balls.
After the Rangers successfully won a challenge turning a fielder's choice into a double play in the third, the Jays put men on first and second by virtue of a Melky Cabrera double and Jose Bautista intentional walk. But Navarro grounded out, continuing Toronto's trend of stranding runners on base.
The Jays opened the scoring in their half of the fourth with Johnson doubling home Rasmus, who had singled to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a wild pitch. One out later, Johnson went to third on a successful Anthony Gose bunt. Munenori Kawaski's infield single made it 2-0, with Toronto leaving two on the bases.
Left-hander Ryan Feierabend opened the sixth for Texas and put Gose on first via a throwing error with one out. But he made amends by promptly picking a somnolent Gose off first, which proved costly when Jose Reyes followed with a double.
Toronto added to its lead in the seventh on consecutive singles by Cabrera, Bautista and Navarro. After Rasmus reached first on a fielder's choice, Johnson brought Bautista home on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.
Brett Cecil and McGowan followed Stroman in the eighth, when the Rangers finally got on the board via an Elvis Andrus RBI single. Cecil had opened the inning by yielding a walk and a single.
McGowan seemed to have the situation in control when he struck out the ever-dangerous Adrian Beltre with two outs. But Beltre made it to first base to load the bases thanks to a Navarro passed ball and McGowan found himself needing another out.
The Jays have won six of their last seven series against the Rangers in Toronto. Saturday's win gave them a chance to make it seven of eight.
