ARLINGTON, Texas — J.P. Arencibia snapped out of an 0-for-16 slump for the Toronto Blue Jays with a solo homer leading off the sixth inning that ended a no-hit bid by Texas Rangers starter Colby Lewis.
Arencibia added another homer two innings later.
Yet, the catcher was more concerned about what Toronto gave up than what he did at the plate in a 12-2 loss to the AL West-leading Rangers on Friday night.
"I'm not worried about (the homers). I'm worried about the runs we gave up tonight. My job is to give our team an opportunity to win the game, and they scored too many runs," Arencibia said. "I know I can hit. Everyone's going to struggle. But one of my duties is to keep those guys from hitting home plate, and obviously we didn't do that tonight."
Jo-Jo Reyes (5-8), who was trying to win three consecutive starts for the first time in his career, instead gave up eight runs and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings.
"You leave some pitches up to those guys and they're going to hurt you," Reyes said. "I've got to do a better job of pitching."
Among the hits allowed by Reyes were an RBI double and a three-run homer to Nelson Cruz, who later added two two-run singles off reliever Shawn Camp for a career-best eight RBIs.
"There were a lot of pitches that found their way to the middle of the plate and they didn't miss them," Toronto manager John Farrell said. "A lot of good swings, a lot of hard contact."
Toronto was coming off a three-game sweep of Seattle and had won eight of its previous 10. The Blue Jays had won 10 of their last 13 games against Texas, including three of four at Rangers Ballpark in April.
The Blue Jays trailed 8-0 before Arencibia's 398-foot homer to left leading off the sixth. His homer leading off the eighth against reliever Arthur Rhodes was his 14th of the season, the most among AL catchers.
Lewis (10-7) allowed one run and two hits over 6 2-3 innings to become the third Rangers starter to win 10 games this season. Only one other time in the franchise's 51 seasons have the Rangers had three 10-game winners before the end of July.
It was the fifth straight victory — over seven starts — for Lewis, matching his career-best. The right-hander struck out five and walked two, those being the only runners he allowed the first five innings.
"Getting a huge offensive production, I was able to go out and just kind of pound the strike zone," Lewis said. "Nellie Cruz tonight, that's awesome. Anytime you get that type of production, it's pretty easy to pitch."
Michael Young added four hits and four runs for the AL West-leading Rangers, who won for the 13th time in 15 games. They ended a two-game losing streak that came after winning 12 straight.
Adrian Beltre had two hits and walked during his three at-bats before leaving the game with a strained left hamstring sustained running from first to third on Young's single in the fifth.
Just before getting to third, Beltre cringed and pulled up slightly in an effort to take pressure off his leg. The All-Star third baseman reached back and grabbed the back of his leg above his knee after getting to the base.
Beltre will have an MRI on Saturday.
Notes: The Blue Jays are 50-50 overall, and 26-26 on the road. ... Toronto leadoff hitter Yunel Escobar finished 0 for 4, ending his career-best streak of reaching base 25 consecutive games. ... Rhodes, the 41-year-old left-hander, made his first appearance since July 4. ... It was only the fourth time a Ranger had at least eight RBIs. ... The other season Texas had three 10-win pitchers by the end of July was 1979, with Fergie Jenkins, Steve Comer and Jim Kern. All of Kern's wins came as a reliever, meaning this is the first time the Rangers have accomplished that with three starters. ... Young's four runs matched a career-high, and were the most by a Texas player this season.