TORONTO -- Andrew Cashner allowed one run over seven innings to help the Texas Rangers beat Toronto 3-1 Sunday and end the Blue Jays' season-high five-game winning streak.
Cashner (2-4) allowed just five hits and two walks for the Rangers (25-26), who managed to avoid a sweep at the hands of the suddenly surging Jays.
Reliever-turned-starter Joe Biagini (1-3) threw a career-high 95 pitches while giving up two runs over six innings for the Blue Jays (23-27), who finally have their lineup healthy as they wrap the first leg of a 10-game, 10-day homestand.
With recently returned infielders Troy Tulowitzki and Josh Donaldson back in the Blue Jays lineup after a day off, Toronto struck first on a bright afternoon in front of 46,188 fans at Rogers Centre. Kevin Pillar led off the bottom of the first inning with a double and scored on a Jose Bautista sacrifice fly.
From there, Cashner settled in. The six-foot-six right-hander struck out only two but worked nimbly out of trouble when the Blue Jays managed to threaten, including a fourth inning in which he gave up back-to-back opening walks to Bautista and Kendrys Morales before grounding Russell Martin into a double play and leaving the inning with only 13 pitches.
The Rangers were slightly more opportunistic. They tied the game in the third after Elvis Andrus eked out an infield single, advanced to second with his 10th stolen base of the season, and scored on a single to centre from catcher Jonathan Lucroy.
An inning later, third baseman Joey Gallo clubbed his 15th home run of the season over the wall in left-centre to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. After reliever Dominic Leone took the ball for the Blue Jays in the seventh, Texas made it 3-1 when Andrus singled, advanced to third on a Nomar Mazara opposite-way double, and then scored on a wild pitch.
The Jays threatened to rally in the ninth after two-out singles from Justin Smoak and Martin, but closer Matt Bush got Tulowitzki to ground out to earn his sixth save.
Still, it was an encouraging start for Biagini, who sailed past the season-high 77 pitches he threw in 4 2/3 innings in his last start against the Brewers. Biagini, who turns 27 Monday, hadn't gone more than five innings in his four previous starts since being shifted from the bullpen to the starting rotation as injuries accumulated.
NOTES: On "Country Day" at the Rogers Centre, fans scored Blue Jays-themed straw hats and the band Southtown, fronted by Blue Jays manager John Gibbons' daughter Jordan, performed a pre-game concert from the centre-field stands. … Toronto continues its 10-game homestand with a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds beginning Monday. ... The game was announced as Toronto's third sellout of the season.
