4/13/84: Jays blunder but rally behind Jesse Barfield, 7-5

The fact that it was Friday the 13th may have had something to do with it, but the Toronto Blue Jays blundered their way to 5 errors against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. Jesse Barfield, who made one of the 5 boo-boos, managed to navigate past the errors with a clutch 2-run homer in the top of the 6th, rallying the Jays to a 7-5 win.

The Jays scored 2 in the top of the 1st but recorded 2 of their 5 miscues in the bottom of the inning, leading to 4 Texas runs on just 1 hit, a single by George Wright. The way the runs were meted out was more indicative of Dave Stieb's pitching, but the errors by Barfield and Alfredo Griffin cast an ugly pall for the Jays, which would find a way to overcome, thanks to star slugger Barfield. 

The Ranger lead was 5-3 in the top of the 6th when Barfield struck. After a leadoff bouncer to short by Cliff Johnson, Ranger starter Danny Darwin hit George Bell with a pitch. After Bell stole 2nd, Barfield tied the game with a deep blast to left that Mickey Rivers saw sail over the wall. After a pair of walks to Ernie Whitt and Alfredo Griffin, Damaso Garcia singled to score Whitt with the go-ahead run. The Jays added an insurance tally in the 7th, Jimmy Key relieved Stieb in the 9th to secure the Jays 7-5 triumph, evening their record to 4-4.

Fast Fact: Arlington's home run effect of "1" against lefties, bedeviled the Jays lefty hitters (Moseby, Upshaw, Whitt) who were turned away by the "diamond" and the waiting clutches of Ranger RF Gary Ward, who made 9 putouts on the night. 

TOR 7-9-5 TEX 5-5-1 WP-Stieb (2-0) LP-Darwin SV-Key HR-Barfield GWRBI-Garcia TOR 4-4 TEX 3-5  


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