Although they didn’t deliver a win for a rowdy sellout crowd of 49, 834, the Blue Jays weren’t feeling down.
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Choo Shin-soo was held without a hit, but drew a walk as his Texas Rangers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 to open the American League Division Series (ALDS) north of the border on Thursday.
Rangers righthander Yovani Gallardo, who didn’t allow a run in 132/3 innings against Toronto during the regular season, was flawless through three innings and allowed two runs and three hits in five innings.
The Royals knotted the game at 4 off Scott Kazmir and relievers Oliver Perez and Josh Fields in the sixth.
Jays slugger Jose Bautista, who suffered a hamstring cramp in the ninth inning Thursday, will play today.
“With the way the Riders have been playing, right now blue is the new green”, he said.
Gallardo is 4-0 with a 1.78 ERA in 4 career starts against Toronto.
Whether or not this means something is up for debate, but once again they couldn’t close down a one-run game. On this day that simply wasn’t good enough.
The ex-Met McHugh (1-0) allowed four hits, including a pair of solo homers by Kendrys Morales, while pitching around a 49-minute rain delay. A two-run shot by No. 9 hitter Robinson Chirinos in the fifth made it 4-1. That’s something a home-run-happy Blue Jays lineup has to take advantage of.
“He didn’t give up too many hits”. However manager John Gibbons said Friday morning that Donaldson should be able play.
Ezequiel Carrera replaced Donaldson in the No. 2 spot in the order but grounded out in his lone at-bat.
GoDuke.com is celebrating the former Blue Devil’s first postseason appearance with a Marcus Stroman Auction. He will go through observation on Thursday night, and the team will make a decision on his availability before the game.
“I’ve known Dave since 2010 when I got traded to Tampa Bay”, Chirinos said. Keone Kela surrendered a long home rushed to the first hitter he confronted in the 6th, then surrendered a long fly ball on his next pitch that landed only a couple feet foul of a home run however recuperated to escape from the inning. First baseman Mitch Moreland entered the game late, but never reached the plate.
“The fans were great“.
Good thing it’s not a hard rule.
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For the Rangers, Adrian Beltre hurt his back and left the game in tears from the pain. In an early hole, the margin of error shrinks even further. Toronto leads the whole AL in walks, earning an average of 3.5 per game. “He got a pitch you’d expect him to pull, a changeup, but he found the hole”, Goins said. We’ve lost a few tough games and we don’t lose many in a row. Like I say, we’re facing their ace tomorrow, Hamels, that definitely won’t be easy, but we like the matchup and we’ll see. I don’t know that will get to him.
