Jays nemesis Rougned Odor hit an outfield single off LaTroy Hawkins, the Jays’ seventh pitcher, to start the two-out rally.
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That call proved pivotal when Alberto lined a single to center, sending Odor tumbling home. In came Liam Hendriks and Delino DeShields greeted him with an infield single for a 6-4 lead.
“This is an uphill battle but it’s been done before”, Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin said.
“He’s got a pretty significant tear, so that’s not very good”, downcast Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
If the Toronto Blue Jays are going to get back into the American League Divisional Series, which resumes Sunday with Game 3 against the Texas Rangers, they have two options.
“Granted this season hasn’t gone the way I planned, but it’s not like I haven’t been in this situation before”, Loup said. “But not too wise to get that far ahead”.
The game was a baseball smorgasbord, with something for all tastes. He walked Fielder with one out and outfielder Will Venable ran for him.
Right-hander Shawn Tolleson pitched a clean 11th for the Rangers. Nothing came of the incident, however.
The Blue Jays tied the game 3-3 in the second.
Both bullpens refused to blink as the innings kept coming. Rangers left-hander Jake Diekman, hitting 99 m.p.h.at times, matched him both innings.
St. Louis Cardinals’ Tommy Pham runs after hitting a solo home run…
Stroman then got three outs on two grounders to first.
“We were pretty confident going into the second game regardless of Adrian getting hurt”, DeShields said.
Choo sacrificed DeShields to second.
Texas Rangers’ Adrian Beltre hits an RBI-single during the third… Cecil, the Blue Jays’ top left-hander in the bullpen, was injured during a rundown in the eighth inning. Ben Revere went to first on an infield single that handcuffed reliever Sam Dyson. Pompey stole second and third uncontested before Goins grounded out.
Odor may have been tagged out by Toronto shortstop Troy Tulowitzki during the previous at bat.
The call stood after a video review although the Rogers Centre crowd disagreed.
There were gutsy performances all-round in an entertaining game that started with a bit of everything before settling back to the expected showdown between Stroman and Hamels.
Donaldson was back in the lineup after taking a knee to the head trying to break up a double play in the opener. His status for Game 3 on Sunday is unclear.
Cecil said Saturday that he won’t need surgery and will be ready for spring training.
Stroman retired 14 straight before walking Mitch Moreland with two out in the sixth. He followed that by striking out Elvis Andrus, pounding his chest as he left the mound. After all, Jose Bautista did show a glimpse of his well-known power back on Thursday, as did hopeful-MVP Josh Donaldson on Friday.
Colabello, playing first base like Dominik Hasek, was a one-man wrecking crew for Toronto. Pillar asked. “Not lose first of all”.
“I think he threw a quick pitch”, Napoli said.
Bautista nearly made a highlight-reel catch off DeShields, Texas’ leadoff batter, in the first inning but he lost the ball when he crashed into the wall for a double. On the other side, Toronto will start Marco Estrada, who went 13-8 with a 3.13 ERA during the regular season.
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The biggest thing is an 0-2 deficit for a team that entered the postseason as one of the favorites to reach the World Series.
