Player of the gameMacKenzie GoreTEX7.0ip 4h 3er 5k
Joc Pederson took a first-pitch fastball out of the hand of Kevin Gausman to begin Thursday night’s series-opening matchup between the Rangers and Blue Jays. The pitch was well below the zone for a ball. Pederson and Gausman proceeded to battle it out before most fans had even made it to their Rogers Centre seats. Pederson fouled off seven pitches and got to a 2-2 count before yet another four-seamer -- the 11th pitch of the at-bat -- caught too much of the plate. Pederson didn’t miss, launching it a Statcast-projected 402 feet for a leadoff homer to begin the evening north of the border. It was the most pitches in a single plate appearance ending with a leadoff home run since June 2, 2022, when Yankees infielder Matt Carpenter pulled it off against Shohei Ohtani (also 11 pitches). Pederson perfectly set the tone for the Rangers to power towards a 6-5 victory over the Blue Jays to open the series. “That started everything for us,” said manager Skip Schumaker. “The momentum started because of Joc and that 11-pitch at-bat. We were just hoping for him to start us off, get on base, walk, whatever it was. But for him to lead it off like that really set the tone. And then the offense kept going.” Since moving to the leadoff spot in mid May, Pederson entered today slashing .287/.364/.611. He has 10 home runs and 19 RBIs in 32 games. “I was just in battle mode,” Pederson said of his first inning homer on Thursday. “It's big any time you can put together a long at-bat. It helps. Having it end with a home run, I think, is even better. … \[Leading off\
