ALDS Game 3: Blue Jays take down Rangers 5-1
Following Friday afternoon’s 14-inning affair in Toronto, months of built-up excitement and anticipation quickly turned to doubt and concern. Entering the postseason as the consensus American League favorite, falling behind two games to none in the brief best-of-five division series with the Texas Rangers quickly sent a wake-up call north of the border, and in a must win Game 3 on the road, the Blue Jays responded.
A 2 for 3, 4 RBI performance from shortstop Troy Tulowitzki paved the way for a 5-1 win over the Rangers in Arlington, forcing a Game 4 tomorrow afternoon at Globe Life Park.
Perhaps a change of scenery worked to the benefit of the Blue Jays, who had previously dropped two nail-biters at home, including Friday’s 14-inning contest. Transitioning to the hitter-friendly Globe Life Park, the Blue Jays tallied a run in both the 2nd and 3rd innings respectively, and broke the game open in the top half of the 6th inning, thanks to a two-out, three-run home run off the bat of Troy Tulowitzki, who was 0 for 10 with four strikeouts in the first two games of the series.
The Jays were also aided by a strong start from right-hander Marco Estrada, who allowed five hits and one run over 6.1 innings while striking out four. Toronto was in dire need of a strong performance from their rotation in Game 3, after David Price and Marcus Stroman both failed to take control of close games, resulting in the 2-0 deficit the Blue Jays faced.
As for the Rangers, Martin Perez was unable to replicate the strong outings from Yovani Gallardo and Cole Hamels in Toronto, as he allowed six hits and four earned runs while walking three and striking out two in a five-inning outing. Beyond Perez’ sub-par outing, the wounded Rangers lineup was not able to get too much traffic throughout the night, and when they did, they were not able to deliver, finishing 0 for 4 with RISP.
These two teams will face off once again tomorrow afternoon in Arlington, in what is once again a must-win game for the Blue Jays. R.A. Dickey and Derek Holland are expected to start for the Blue Jays and Rangers respectively.