The Rangers broke a 2-2 tie with a four-run outburst in the fifth inning and went on from there to defeat the Blue Jays, 11-8. Willie Horton and Mike Hargrove singled to start the stanza and both runners scored on a double by Juan Beniquez and an error on a relay by Bob Bailor. Bump Wills tripled, driving in Beniquez, and then crossed the plate himself when Bert Campaneris hit a sacrifice fly.

Carnpaneris homered in the seventh to add what proved to be the deciding run before the Rangers iced their victory with two more tallies in the eighth. Ron Fairly and Steve Staggs homered for the Blue Jays. Staggs smashed his homer in the sixth inning for the rookie second baseman's first major league hit in his debut after being called up from Iowa (American Association). [The Sporting News]



Texas Rangers 11, Toronto Blue Jays 8
Game Played on Friday, July      1, 1977 (Night game) at Exhibition Stadium
Rangers      2  0  0    2  4  0    1  2  0  -  11 14  0
Blue Jays    0  2  0    0  0  1    2  3  0  -   8 12  1


Rangers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Blue Jays            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Harrah 3b             4   0   0   1     2   0   .280      Bailor ss             5   0   1   2     0   0   .321
Washington lf         5   1   1   1     1   0   .311      Staggs 2b             5   1   2   2     0   0   .400
Henderson rf          4   1   1   0     2   0   .258      A. Woods lf           3   0   0   0     0   0   .308
Horton dh             5   1   3   1     0   0   .288        Velez ph,rf         2   0   1   0     0   0   .272
  Alomar pr,dh        0   1   0   0     0   0   .250      Fairly dh             4   2   3   1     1   0   .327
Hargrove 1b           3   2   2   1     1   0   .295      Ewing rf,lf           3   0   1   0     0   1   .301
Beniquez cf           5   1   2   2     0   1   .271        Bowling ph,lf       0   1   0   0     1   0   .138
Wills 2b              5   2   2   1     0   0   .284        Whitt ph            1   0   0   0     0   1   .200
Campaneris ss         3   2   2   3     1   0   .272      Rader 3b              4   2   1   0     1   2   .257
Sundberg c            4   0   1   0     0   1   .218      Ault 1b               3   1   1   1     1   0   .260
Alexander p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Scott cf              4   1   1   1     0   1   .231
  Lindblad p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Ashby c               3   0   1   1     1   0   .195
  Devine p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Byrd p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Bruno p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Hartenstein p       0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               38  11  14  10     7   2             Totals               37   8  12   8     5   5

Time of Game: 3:01   Attendance: 21,089
Left on Base: Rangers 10, Blue Jays 7
DP: Rangers 2, Blue Jays 1
Errors: Bailor
Doubles: Beniquez (10), Ewing (2), Ault (13), Bailor (12)
Triples: Wills (3), Rader (1)
Home Runs: Campaneris (4), Fairly (12), Staggs (1)
Stolen Bases: Horton (1), Beniquez (13)
Sacrifice Hits: Sundberg (11)
Sacrifice Flies: Hargrove (4), Campaneris (4)
GIDP: Wills (5), Ewing (3), Rader (6)


Rangers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Alexander W(7-5)        6.2   8   5   5   2   2   2  29   4.00
Lindblad                1     2   3   3   2   2   0   7   3.63
Devine SV(4)            1.1   2   0   0   1   1   0   6   2.60
Totals                  9    12   8   8   5   5   2  42

Blue Jays              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Byrd L(0-2)             4     6   7   7   5   2   0  24   7.71
Bruno                   2.2   4   2   2   2   0   1  14   7.13
Hartenstein             2.1   4   2   2   0   0   0  10   5.71
Totals                  9    14  11  11   7   2   1  48

Wild Pitches: Bruno (2)

Umpires: HP - Ted Hendry, 1B - Jerry Neudecker, 2B - Art Frantz, 3B - Al Clark


RANGERS 1ST: Harrah grounded out (third to first); Washington
singled to left; Henderson walked [Washington to second]; Horton
singled to right [Washington scored, Henderson to third];
Hargrove hit a sacrifice fly to center [Henderson scored];
Beniquez struck out; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 2, Blue Jays
0.

BLUE JAYS 1ST: Bailor flied out to right; Staggs grounded out
(third to first); Debut game for Steve Staggs; A. Woods
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Rangers 2, Blue Jays 0.

RANGERS 2ND: Wills grounded out (first unassisted); Campaneris
grounded out (shortstop to first); Sundberg struck out; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 2, Blue Jays 0.

BLUE JAYS 2ND: Fairly homered; Ewing was called out on strikes;
Rader tripled to center; Ault popped to first in foul territory;
Scott singled [Rader scored]; Ashby lined to second; 2 R, 3 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 2, Blue Jays 2.

RANGERS 3RD: Harrah walked; Washington forced Harrah (shortstop
to second); Henderson walked [Washington to second]; Horton
forced Henderson (third to second) [Washington to third];
Hargrove walked [Horton to second]; Beniquez grounded out (third
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Rangers 2, Blue Jays 2.

BLUE JAYS 3RD: Bailor grounded out (third to first); Staggs
grounded out (pitcher to first); A. Woods grounded out (second
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 2, Blue Jays 2.

RANGERS 4TH: Wills singled to right; Campaneris walked [Wills to
second]; Sundberg out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second)
[Wills to third, Campaneris to second]; Harrah reached on a
fielder's choice [Wills scored, Campaneris to third]; Washington
forced Harrah (second to shortstop) [Campaneris scored];
Henderson grounded out (first unassisted); 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
 Rangers 4, Blue Jays 2.

BLUE JAYS 4TH: Fairly made an out to second; Ewing doubled to
left; Rader was called out on strikes; Ault grounded out (third
to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 4, Blue Jays 2.

RANGERS 5TH: Horton singled to right; Hargrove singled to right
[Horton to second]; Horton stole third; Beniquez doubled to
right [Horton scored, Hargrove scored (error by Bailor)]; BRUNO
REPLACED BYRD (PITCHING); Beniquez stole third; Wills tripled to
center [Beniquez scored]; Campaneris hit a sacrifice fly to
center [Wills scored]; Sundberg flied out to center; Harrah
walked; Bruno threw a wild pitch [Harrah to second]; Washington
made an out to second; 4 R, 4 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 8, Blue
Jays 2.

BLUE JAYS 5TH: Scott flied out to center; Ashby grounded out
(second to first); Bailor grounded out (shortstop to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 8, Blue Jays 2.

RANGERS 6TH: Henderson singled to left; Horton popped to catcher
in foul territory; Hargrove flied out to center; Beniquez forced
Henderson (third to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 8,
Blue Jays 2.

BLUE JAYS 6TH: Staggs homered; A. Woods popped to third in foul
territory; Fairly singled to right; Ewing grounded into a double
play (second to shortstop to first) [Fairly out at second]; 1 R,
2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 8, Blue Jays 3.

RANGERS 7TH: Wills grounded out (first to pitcher); Campaneris
homered; Sundberg singled to left; Harrah grounded out
(shortstop to first) [Sundberg to second]; Washington walked;
HARTENSTEIN REPLACED BRUNO (PITCHING); Henderson grounded out
(second to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Rangers 9, Blue Jays 3.

BLUE JAYS 7TH: Rader walked; Ault walked [Rader to second];
Scott forced Ault (shortstop to second) [Rader to third]; Ashby
singled to left [Rader scored, Scott to second]; Bailor flied
out to left; Staggs singled to center [Scott scored, Ashby to
second]; LINDBLAD REPLACED ALEXANDER (PITCHING); VELEZ BATTED
FOR A. WOODS; Velez popped to catcher in foul territory; 2 R, 2
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Rangers 9, Blue Jays 5.

RANGERS 8TH: VELEZ STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); EWING CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); Horton singled to left; ALOMAR RAN FOR
HORTON; Hargrove singled to right [Alomar to third]; Beniquez
singled to center [Alomar scored, Hargrove to second]; Wills
grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first)
[Hargrove to third, Beniquez out at second]; Campaneris singled
to left [Hargrove scored]; Sundberg grounded out (shortstop to
first); 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 11, Blue Jays 5.

BLUE JAYS 8TH: ALOMAR STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING DH); Fairly
singled to right; BOWLING BATTED FOR EWING; Bowling walked
[Fairly to second]; Rader was called out on strikes; Ault
doubled to left [Fairly scored, Bowling to third]; Scott struck
out; Ashby walked; DEVINE REPLACED LINDBLAD (PITCHING); Bailor
doubled to left [Bowling scored, Ault scored, Ashby to third];
Staggs grounded out (second to first); 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Rangers 11, Blue Jays 8.

RANGERS 9TH: BOWLING STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); Harrah
grounded out (pitcher to first); Washington lined to left;
Henderson grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Rangers 11, Blue Jays 8.

BLUE JAYS 9TH: Velez singled to left; Fairly walked [Velez to
second]; WHITT BATTED FOR BOWLING; Whitt struck out; Rader
grounded into a double play (shortstop to first) [Fairly out at
second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 11, Blue Jays 8.