Jose Bautista blast keeps Toronto Blue Jays rolling, Texas Rangers reeling

TORONTO -- Marco Estrada said he woke up in a good mood on Saturday.

So good that not even giving up a home run to Shin-Soo Choo on his first pitch of the game could change it.

Estrada then struck out eight in six innings and Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Texas Rangers 3-1.

"I felt really good today, I woke up this morning in a really good mood and mentally was prepared for this game," Estrada said. "I liked everything. We were locating fastballs, changeups, some decent curveballs, threw one cutter that was good and the other one wasn't so good. But overall the pitches were working."

It was the fifth straight win for the Blue Jays (23-26) and the second victory in succession over the Rangers (24-26), who have lost five in a row.

Devon Travis singled for the Blue Jays to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Estrada (4-2) allowed four hits, one walk and one run in winning his third decision in a row. Roberto Osuna pitched a perfect ninth to earn his ninth save.

"He was great," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "The leadoff home run on the first pitch of the game and then he did his thing. ... I can't say enough good things about him. Typical Estrada outing."

Estrada has worked hard to get his changeup back to where it was, and it was a big pitch for him Saturday.

"It was the changeup that made the difference for him today," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said.

Texas starter Yu Darvish (5-3) allowed five hits, three walks and three runs in six innings. He struck out four and hit two batters in losing for the first time since April 18, a span of six starts.

"He's one of the elite in the game," Gibbons said. "He was on, I thought we made him work pretty hard. Then Jose (Bautista) got the hanging breaking ball and did what you should do and gave us the lead. ... Jose has been really hot and he didn't miss it when he got the hanger."

Choo hit his fifth homer on Estrada's first pitch of the game. It was Choo's first homer leading off a game this season and the 21st of his career.

"Actually, Luke (catcher Maile) called a changeup the first pitch and it kind of caught me off guard," Estrada said. "At first, I thought he was kind of joking with me. I threw a ball down the middle and he hit it out, whatever."

The Blue Jays took a 3-1 lead on Bautista's ninth homer, a three-run blast with two outs in the fifth.

Maile walked with one out. Rangers center fielder Jared Hoying hit the wall hard in left-center field catching a drive by Kevin Pillar for the second out. Hoying was down on the warning track for several minutes but got to his feet and remained in the game.

"I hit the floor and I couldn't breathe," Hoying said.

Travis singled and Bautista homered to left on the first pitch to put the Blue Jays ahead.

"On the previous at bat to Bautista, I was getting a reaction like I didn't think he was seeing the curveball or slider because he was moving back a little bit when I threw," Darvish said through a translator. "I was trying to get ahead in the count with my slider and just didn't execute the pitch."

Toronto had a chance to make it a bigger inning, loading the bases on two walks and a double by Justin Smoak before Darvish ended the inning by striking out Ezequiel Carrera.

"We've been challenged in a lot of areas," Banister said. "We've got to get better, obviously, we've got to put some things together.

"When you're challenged, it doesn't feel good, it doesn't look good. Mistakes are accentuated. When you're incapable of capitalizing of some run-scoring opportunities, those get accentuated. We haven't been perfect, we've made some mistakes, but we've got to continue to play the game, find a way to put some runs on the board."

Aaron Loup replaced Estrada in the seventh. After allowing a one-out bloop single to Joey Gallo, he was replaced by Ryan Tepera to face pinch-hitter Mike Napoli, who hit into a spectacular double play started by a diving stop in the hole by shortstop Ryan Goins.

NOTES: RHP Dillon Gee joined the Rangers from Triple-A Round Rock, replacing RHP A.J. Griffin (strained left intercostal), who was put on the 10-day disabled list after leaving his start Friday after 1 1/3 innings. ... Texas SS Elvis Andrus stole two bases Friday to reach 250 career stolen bases, the first player in Rangers history to reach that milestone. ... Toronto 3B Josh Donaldson and SS Troy Tulowitzki did not play after both came off the disabled list to play for the first time since mid-April on Friday. C Russell Martin made his fourth start of the season at third base. ... Toronto RHP Joe Biagini (1-2, 3.75 ERA) will oppose Texas RHP Andrew Cashner (1-4, 3.18) in the series finale Sunday.