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	<title>Toronto &#187; 2016 Playoffs</title>
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	<description>Comprehensive coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays</description>
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		<title>Recap: Blue Jays 5, Rangers 3; Toronto Holds on to Take 2-0 Series Lead</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/10/07/recap-blue-jays-5-rangers-3-toronto-holds-on-to-take-2-0-series-lead/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Oct 2016 21:35:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Dika]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recaps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2016 Playoffs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edwin Encarnacion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ezequiel Carrera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J.A. Happ]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin Pillar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Texas Rangers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Troy Tulowitzki]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=7327</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Blue Jays are heading home with a 2-0 series lead in their ALDS matchup against the Texas Rangers. With a 5-3 win in Game two this afternoon in Arlington, the Jays have put themselves in the best position possible ahead of Game three Sunday night at the Rogers Centre. No one expected this afternoon’s [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Blue Jays are heading home with a 2-0 series lead in their ALDS matchup against the Texas Rangers. With a 5-3 win in Game two this afternoon in Arlington, the Jays have put themselves in the best position possible ahead of Game three Sunday night at the Rogers Centre.</p>
<p>No one expected this afternoon’s game to be the laugher that Game one turned out to be and it most definitely wasn’t, with the Rangers mounting a late rally that had the Blue Jays use every high leverage reliever at their disposal to lock down the game.</p>
<p>For the second game in a row, the offence that had disappeared for most of September reappeared at Globe Life Park, providing the Jays’ pitching staff with a five run cushion, albeit in the most unexpected of ways. Unless you expected Kevin Pillar and Ezekiel Carrera to go yard off of Texas co-ace Yu Darvish, the former on a pitch that was closer to his eyeballs than it was the strike zone. More predictably, Troy Tulowitzki and Edwin Encarnacion contributed home runs of their own.</p>
<p>Despite not being as dominant as he was throughout the course of the regular season, J.A. Happ was able to limit the Rangers to one run over five plus innings pitched. Happ racked up 84 pitches and surrendered nine hits but consistently worked his way out of jams with runners on to keep the Blue Jays in control before handing the ball over to the bullpen.</p>
<p>The Rangers have become known for mounting late season comebacks this season and as John Gibbons started to dip into his bullpen it looked for a moment as if they may be ready to author another one this afternoon. The Rangers’ propensity for late inning comebacks and the Blue Jays’ sometimes shaky (and currently ailing) bullpen made for a nerve-racking ending to a hardly fought game.</p>
<p>Francisco Liriano, entered the game in the eighth inning with a three-run lead, but after surrendering a leadoff double and walk around an Elvis Andrus fly ball, he was struck in the back of the head/neck. It is unclear exactly where the ball struck the Jays’ lefty, but it was reported by <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottyMacThinks/status/784495142891687937" target="_blank">TSN’s Scott MacArthur</a> that he was taken to a local hospital. Fingers crossed that Liriano is alright and that the move is only precautionary.</p>
<p>The horrific play ended with Rangers on the corners and a 5-3 Blue Jays’ lead. This made John Gibbons call on Roberto Osuna &#8211; who left Tuesday’s Wild Card game with a shoulder issue of his own &#8211; in order to preserve the Blue Jays’ lead.</p>
<p>Osuna was absolutely fantastic and locked things down for a five-out save, throwing 31 pitches in the process.</p>
<p>Other Notes:</p>
<h4>Sportsmanlike Conduct</h4>
<p>One of the more civil exchanges that we’ve witnessed between these two baseball teams occurred in the bottom of the third inning this afternoon at Globe Life Park. When Russell Martin discarded his mask while making a play on a pop up in foul territory, Rougned Odor picked it up and returned Martin his mask after the play. With all of the bad blood, bad fans and stupid behavior that surrounds the Jays/Rangers rivalry, it’s nice to see that these teams and players can indeed be civil with each other.</p>
<h4><strong>Injuries Mounting</strong></h4>
<p>Devon Travis was scratched minutes before the game with what is being described as “right knee irritation”. Roberto Osuna had to come out of the game on Tuesday and Francisco Liriano today. Joaquin Benoit is inactive and Josh Donaldson is likely still battling his hip injury, amongst other things. Thankfully, pitching with a herniated disk in his back seems to be absolutely no problem for Marco Estrada, but in any case, the Blue Jays are battling injuries to many of their key contributors. Hopefully Liriano is okay, and the travel day gives the rest of the ailing Jays an opportunity to rest and recover, as much as they possibly can.</p>
<h4><strong>Controversial Replay Call Goes Toronto’s Way</strong></h4>
<p>Ian Desmond&#8217;s decision to break for home after hesitating momentarily on an Adrian Beltre ground ball with one out in the seventh inning resulted in as close a play as you will ever see. While Desmond may have beat the tag at home (the umpires deemed replay evidence inconclusive), his risky decision cost the Rangers. With the infield back and a four run lead, the Blue Jays were conceding the run. Desmond’s initial hesitation hurt the Rangers and allowed the Blue Jays to sustain their four-run cushion heading into the eighth inning.</p>
<h4><strong>What it Means Going Forward</strong></h4>
<p>Game three of the ALDS goes Sunday night in Toronto, with Aaron Sanchez (15-2, 3.00 ERA) taking on Colby Lewis (6-5, 3.71 ERA). Toronto heads home with a 2-0 stranglehold on the series, but we don’t have to look too far back to see how easily that type of lead can vanish. Anything can happen in a five-game series and don’t be surprised if and when it does.</p>
<p>While it might feel like the right time to start giving it to the Rangers and their fans, the job isn&#8217;t done just yet. The always-wise Tao of Steib reminds us:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">There are some boastful witticisms I&#39;d like to share, but I recall that those guys won game 1 last year.</p>
<p>&mdash; Tao of Stieb (@TaoofStieb) <a href="https://twitter.com/TaoofStieb/status/784191789502701568">October 7, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>It&#8217;s as true today as it was yesterday.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sport</em></p>
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		<title>Recap: Blue Jays 10, Rangers 1; Estrada Shines While Texas Falters</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/10/06/recap-blue-jays-10-rangers-1-estrada-shines-while-texas-falters/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Oct 2016 23:41:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gideon Turk]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recaps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2016 Playoffs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jose Bautista]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marco Estrada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Texas Rangers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Troy Tulowitzki]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=7296</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As soon as Edwin Encarnacion launched his walk-off home run on Tuesday night, talk in the baseball world shifted to how the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays would react as they revisited their year-old rivalry for at least another three games, possibly for four or five. If their were any concerns that either team  would revert to child [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As soon as Edwin Encarnacion launched his walk-off home run on Tuesday night, talk in the baseball world shifted to how the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays would react as they revisited their year-old rivalry for at least another three games, possibly for four or five. If their were any concerns that either team  would revert to child like antics instead of focusing on the task at hand of winning the baseball game, they were quickly quashed, as both the Rangers and Blue Jays came out to play baseball today, leaving the promotion of violence to <a href="https://twitter.com/Wilnerness590/status/784106083753205760" target="_blank">Rangers fans</a> and their <a href="https://twitter.com/StevensonFWST/status/784127252933980160" target="_blank">young children</a>.</p>
<p>Jose Bautista stepped up to the plate with Josh Donaldson standing at first base and two out in the first inning to a chorus of boos, but he was unable to do any damage, flying out to left fielder Carlos Gomez. The Blue Jays were close to getting in business again in the second inning, as with two outs, Kevin Pillar grounded to shortstop and almost beat the throw by Elvin Andrus, but a challenge by manager John Gibbons was not able to overturn the call on the field.</p>
<p>However, the Blue Jays finally broke through against Cole Hamels in the third inning after putting up some good at-bats against him earlier. Ezequiel Carrera, batting ninth in the lineup today, worked a walk with one out, and moved up to second base on a wild pitch while Josh Donaldson was at the plate. Donaldson then laced a double off of the glove of gold glove winner and future Hall of Fame third baseman Adrian Beltre, making the score 1-0 for Toronto. Not to be outdone, Edwin Encarnacion hit a single off of the glove of pitcher Cole Hamels, putting men on the corners with one out for Texas&#8217; favourite Blue Jay, Jose Bautista. Hamels tried his best, but Bautista won an eight pitch battle against the 2008 NLCS and WS MVP, hitting a line drive single to centre field, scoring Donaldson. Russell Martin then walked to load the bases for Troy Tulowitzki, who effectively ended this game with a three-run triple which increased the Blue Jays&#8217; win probability by 17.4 percentage points. At the end of the inning, half an hour had passed, Hamels threw 42 pitches, and the Blue Jays found themselves leading the Rangers 5-0.</p>
<p>The main story today was on the pitching side of things for the Blue Jays, as Marco Estrada delivered yet another memorable postseason performance. Estrada held the Rangers scoreless through eight innings, until surrendering a lone run in the ninth. Marco&#8217;s signature pop up and weak flyball inducing ability was on display in Arlington, as he was able to retire the Rangers in the air seven times. His fastball &amp; change up mix baffled the Rangers all afternoon long, helping Marco strike out six batters and allow only four hits.</p>
<p>Estrada allowed a leadoff single in the sixth inning, but as he is wont to do, he quickly ended the threat, with some help from his catcher Russ Martin. Elvis Andrus was running on the 3-2 pitch from Estrada, but Shin Soo-Choo flailed at the 77 MPH change up, and Martin gunned it to second base, allowing Devon Travis to make the tag and record the strike &#8216;em out, throw &#8216;em out double play. Estrada followed that up with another strike out, again swinging on a 77 MPH change up, sending Carlos Gomez back to the bench in sadness. The lone Rangers run scored in the ninth on a triple and ground out.</p>
<p>A secondary storyline today was the Rangers playing a fundamentally unsound game of baseball throughout, costing them a shot at victory in the first game of this best-of-five series. Not only did those two balls go off of gloves in the third inning, but on Tulowitzki&#8217;s bases clearing triple, centre fielder Ian Desmond seemed to have lost track of where the fence was, and pulled up early when it looked like he could have made the catch fairly easily. Then in the fourth inning, an errant throw from Elvis Andrus let Devon Travis reach base, and a passed ball from Jonathan Lucroy moved him up one base and helped him score when Josh Donaldson hit a single to centre field. That made the score 7-0 for the good guys, as Melvin Upton Jr. had lead off the inning with a solo home run earlier.</p>
<p>Bautista was not satisfied with a 7-0 victory, so he decided to cash three more by hitting a long home run off of Jake Diekman in the ninth inning following leadoff singles from Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion. That brought the score to 10-0, a huge blowout that is hopefully a sign of things to come. Donaldson&#8217;s single was his fourth hit on the night, as he finished 4-4 with a walk, easily putting up the best offensive performance on the team. Supporting him were Bautista&#8217;s two hits and four RBI, Tulowitzki&#8217;s three hits and three RBI, and Ezequiel Carrera&#8217;s 1-3 with two walk day.</p>
<p>Tomorrow, the Blue Jays will be back at it in Texas at 1:00 PM EST, hoping to build off of their thrilling-yet-not-stressful game one 10-1 victory. They were able to take the crowd out of it early in this one, so much so that just a couple of hours after they stood up to boo him, by the time the seventh inning rolled around, the Rangers fans couldn&#8217;t be bothered to jeer Bautista when he approached the batter&#8217;s box for his at-bat. Tomorrow, J.A. Happ will look to emulate Estrada, and the bats will attempt to stay hot against Yu Darvish. If it is anything like today&#8217;s game, you will not want to miss it.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Recap: Blue Jays 5, Orioles 2; A Perfect Ending to A Perfect Game</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/10/04/recap-blue-jays-5-orioles-2-a-perfect-ending-to-a-perfect-game/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Oct 2016 03:50:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Joshua Howsam]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recaps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2016 Playoffs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baltimore Orioles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wild Card Game]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=7239</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There’s nothing quite like the excitement of a do-or-die baseball game. The anticipation started to build as soon as the Blue Jays clinched the AL Wild Card spot, and hit a fever pitch sometime around 5:30 pm ET on Tuesday afternoon. Despite the game not starting for another two and a half hours, and the [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There’s nothing quite like the excitement of a do-or-die baseball game.</p>
<p>The anticipation started to build as soon as the Blue Jays clinched the AL Wild Card spot, and hit a fever pitch sometime around 5:30 pm ET on Tuesday afternoon. Despite the game not starting for another two and a half hours, and the gates not opening for another 30 minutes, fans filled the areas around the stadium, anxious for their chance to be part of history.</p>
<p>The energy was palpable, but it was also nervous energy. These were the Baltimore Orioles.</p>
<p>Once upon a time, the Blue Jays would have counted the Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers, or even the lowly Rays among their greatest foes. No longer. Over the last few seasons, a legitimate hatred has grown between these two AL East powers. Whether it’s Marcus Stroman vs. Caleb Joseph, Manny Machado and his issues with Josh Donaldson, or Jose Bautista and his seemingly endless problems with Buck Showalter, Darren O’Day, and the entire Orioles roster; the bad blood between these two has grown to a boil.</p>
<p>As such, the prospect of losing to such a foe resonated with each of the 49,933 fans in attendance (and the one clown who deigned to throw a beer on the field and who should be banned for life from attending Major League Baseball games).</p>
<p>From the first pitch, the crowd was into it, trying to will the team to victory. The blue towels were waving, and the people were loud. When Marcus Stroman went through the first two innings without allowing a baserunner, hopes began to rise. They rose higher still when Jose Bautista added to his Blue Jays lore, launching a solo home run to left field leading off the bottom of the second inning. By the time Kevin Pillar made yet another diving catch to save a run in the fourth, the fans were in a frenzy.</p>
<p>It wasn’t made to last.</p>
<p>One pitch later, Mark Trumbo deposited a two-run homer into the left field corner, and the Orioles were ahead.</p>
<p>But when the Jays went scoreless in the bottom of the fourth, a funny thing happened. Given recent events, fans could be forgiven for losing faith; only Jose Bautista had managed to reach base, and it was beginning to look like yet another futile September offensive performance. But the fans <em>didn’t</em> give up. They got even louder.</p>
<p>The Blue Jays responded to the hometown faithful when Michael Saunders and Kevin Pillar hit back-to-back doubles (Saunders had to hold to see if Bourn would catch it), and then Ezequiel Carrera flared a one run single to centre field. They were denied more when Travis hit into an inning-ending double play, but the Jays had answered. They had done what had eluded them so often this season, and had not let a game get away from them.</p>
<p>After six very solid innings, it became a battle of the bullpens. The numbers suggest that this should have favoured the Orioles, but anything can happen in one game of baseball. The beleaguered Jays setup corps rose to the challenge, and both teams continued to put up zeroes, heading into the bottom of the 9th inning.</p>
<p>Josh Donaldson led off with a double, and then Edwin Encarnacion was intentionally walked to get to Bautista. It felt like this was their time; the Orioles were not going to ace closer Zach Britton, and Last season&#8217;s postseason hero was at the plate. Sadly, it was for naught. Bautista struck out, and then Darren O’Day got Russell Martin to ground into the Jays’ third double play of the game.</p>
<p>With the inning squndered, the game moved into the 10th. Then the 11th. Francisco Liriano shut down the Orioles in the top of the inning&#8230;and then it happened.</p>
<p>There are certain moments in baseball that resonate with you as they’re occurring. The seventh inning of Game 5 and the Bat Flip. Dave Steib’s numerous no-hit bids. Halladay vs. Burnett in the latter’s return to Toronto. Joe Carter’s walkoff against the Phillies.</p>
<p>This was one of those moments.</p>
<p>After back-to-back singles by Devon Travis and Josh Donaldson off a relieving Ubaldo Jimenez (with Britton still conspicuously absent), the Blue Jays were left with runners on the corners and one out for Edwin Encarnacion.</p>
<p>The star slugger then guaranteed that he would don a Jays jersey for at least a few more games, as he launched a ball into the night and rounded the bases to a chorus of fans chanting “EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE!”</p>
<p>It was a surreal end to an absolutely immaculate game, and one worthy of the spotlight under which it was placed.</p>
<p>It did not come without its cost, as Roberto Osuna left the game with an injury in the 10th inning and could miss some action (though no update has been provided).</p>
<p>But that is tomorrow’s problem. For today, the Blue Jays are winners, and Edwin Encarnacion is a hero.</p>
<p>Bring on the Rangers.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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