TORONTO (Interstat) — The Texas Rangers completed a four-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre, a win built on an early home run and a late insurance run that proved critical when the Blue Jays mounted a two-run rally in the eighth inning.

Texas starter Kumar Rocker navigated through five scoreless innings, but the Rangers turned to their bullpen to preserve the lead. Cole Winn (3-2) earned the win with a scoreless seventh and the first two outs of the eighth before giving way to Tyler Alexander, who recorded the final four outs for his fourth save.

The Rangers struck first in the opening inning. Leadoff hitter Joc Pederson launched a solo home run to right field, his 13th of the season, giving Texas a 1-0 lead. The Rangers added a run in the sixth. Brandon Nimmo walked, advanced on a single by Ezequiel Duran and scored on a line-drive single to center by Elias Díaz.

Texas made it 3-0 in the ninth inning with another run. Josh Jung led off with a double to center for his 19th two-base hit of the season and later scored, though the precise sequence of the run was not recorded in the play-by-play provided. The insurance run loomed large when Toronto mounted its only serious threat.

The Blue Jays broke through in the bottom of the eighth. George Springer led off with a single to left, and Nathan Lukes followed by crushing a two-run home run to right field, his fourth of the season, pulling Toronto within 3-2. Alexander entered and retired the next three batters, stranding the tying run in the dugout.

Toronto threatened no further. Alexander worked a perfect ninth inning, striking out Daulton Varsho, getting Ernie Clement on a groundout and inducing a flyout from Alejandro Kirk to end the game.

The Rangers finished with eight hits, while the Blue Jays managed six. Texas left 10 runners on base and committed one error, a throwing miscue by shortstop Corey Seager in the fifth inning. Toronto also made one error, a fielding gaffe by second baseman Ernie Clement in the seventh.

Pederson’s home run was the only extra-base hit for Texas until Jung’s double in the ninth. Jung later doubled again to raise his season total. The Rangers went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, but the early solo shot and the two-run rally in the sixth were enough.

For Toronto, Lukes was the offensive standout. He finished 2-for-4 with his two-run homer and two RBIs. Left fielder Yohendrick Piñango went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 0-for-4, striking out once. Kazuma Okamoto was 0-for-4, and catcher Alejandro Kirk was 0-for-4. Daulton Varsho went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. Andrés Giménez went 1-for-2 with a walk. George Springer went 2-for-4 with a run scored.

On the mound, Blue Jays reliever Adam Macko threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. Jeff Hoffman followed with 1 1/3 innings of one-hit, scoreless relief, striking out two. Louis Varland (3-3) took the loss, pitching the top of the ninth inning. He gave up one earned run on one hit and struck out three but could not escape the inning without damage.

Texas starter Kumar Rocker worked five shutout innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out four. He left with a 2-0 lead. Toronto starter, not listed among the key performances, allowed two runs on six hits over six innings.

The victory lifted Texas to 42-42, pulling the Rangers back to .500 after a mixed stretch of results. The Rangers had lost two of three in Miami earlier in the week before sweeping this four-game set in Toronto. The Blue Jays dropped to 39-45, losers of five of their last six.

The attendance was 40,898. The game lasted 2 hours, 50 minutes.

Texas will continue its road trip Monday in Cleveland against the Guardians. Toronto returns home to face the New York Mets on Monday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Texas Rangers 6, Toronto Blue Jays 5. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Toronto with a 55.40 percent probability to win. Toronto had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 5 went over the over/under line of 8.5.