ARLINGTON // Corey Patterson dragged the ball into the perfect spot for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Patterson, who two days earlier took a big swing and homered on an 0-2 pitch at his shoulders, bunted home the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning Thursday as Toronto won their first series in three weeks with a 5-2 victory over the AL West-leading Texas Rangers.
"It definitely worked out for us. I wanted to put the bunt in the right location," Patterson said. "I would have been fine even if they would have thrown me out."
Darren Oliver (1-2) fielded the ball but nobody was covering the bag with first baseman Chris Davis charging to also try to get it.
"He bunted it into no man's land," the 40-year-old Oliver said. "I was surprised I got to it."
Patterson got credited with a single and John McDonald, who held at third base until the ball was safely in play, scored the go-ahead run.
"Safety squeeze. (Patterson) did an excellent job. It's one of the things we worked on extensively in spring training," manager John Farrell said. "In that situation, left on left, first and third, good pitcher on the mound who's good on left-handers, Corey did an excellent job with the execution and the placement and a good read by McDonald to score."
The Blue Jays, who took three of four games in the series, then added two more runs when Texas made two errors on the same play.
Adam Lind homered again for Toronto, his third in the series and fourth of the season.
Frank Francisco (1-0), who played his first six major league seasons in Texas before being traded in January, got the final four outs. The right-hander struck out Mitch Moreland after taking over with two on and two outs in the eighth before a perfect ninth.
"I don't really look who's in there. I just face who I got to face," he said. "I feel great."
Toronto had lost four series and split another since winning two of three against Oakland from April 5-7. The Rangers, who still have a one-game division lead over the Los Angeles Angels, finished 5-5 on their homestand and have lost nine of 15 since a 9-1 start.
"We need to play better obviously," Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "Right now, we don't like the way we're playing. ... Offensively, we need to get better and take it on the road and try and improve."