It marked the first time this season Diekman pitched two innings in back-to-back games, but he showed no ill effects.
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Texas Rangers’ Adrian Beltre leaves the game, escorted by a trainer, after being injured in the third inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of the American League Division Series in Toronto on Thursday, October 8, 2015.
“This was huge”, Tulowitzki said. “That’s what I rely on”, Dickey said on Sunday. And tons of treatment, to be honest with you.
Tulowitzki was the first acquisition in Toronto’s midsummer trading binge. But he missed three weeks last month after he suffered a shoulder injury in an on-field collision with teammate Kevin Pillar.
“It’s the most emotionally charged game that I’ve ever played”, Bautista said.
The Rangers still lead the Blue Jays in the best-of-five American League Division Series 2-1, and can advance with a win when they host the Blue Jays in game four on Monday.
The Rangers started the bottom half by making errors on three straight groundballs, and Toronto rallied. He tied for fourth in the AL in the most soft contact at 21.4% of batted balls, according to FanGraphs. Just don’t think about being down 0-2, but you want to win. With first base open, he was trying to be cautious and bury the ball on a 3-2 count but said it got away from him. His change-up was dancing and diving out of the strike zones, and he used his fastball to change eye levels exceptionally well. He keeps the hitters off-balance. Donaldson collected an infield single before Bautista singled to left.
His output was plenty of support for Toronto starter Marco Estrada, who allowed five hits and one run over 6-1/3 innings. Delino DeShields said he’d never faced a knuckleballer. Both saved extra-base hits. On Sunday, he struck out four and walked none in 6 1/3 innings. Another double to start the fourth greeted starter Martin Perez in the fourth.
Donaldson led off with a double and moved up on a fly ball. Perez did not help his own cause with his wildness.
Tulowitzki’s drive to left with two outs in the sixth inning put the Blue Jays up 5-0. Doing it in a do-or-die game makes it even more impressive.
“I wasn’t really thinking about the situation”, Estrada said. Righties have posted a. 777 on-base-plus-slugging percentage against Perez this season, while lefties have been limited to a. 537 mark. 394 clip after a runner reached.
It was all Texas could do though as they went down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings and Toronto secured the 5-1 victory to stay alive in the Major League Baseball Playoffs.
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After consecutive innings without a run, the Rangers finished off the game with two runs in the 14th inning to get the 2-0 series lead. His previous postseason hit came in the first inning of Game 7 of the 2011 World Series…. Hopefully we can do it one time, you know, catch our breath a little bit and gain a little confidence.
