ARLINGTON, Texas – The Toronto Blue Jays headed south facing a pair of elimination games on the road, and they returned home a winner-takes-all victory away from a spot in the American League Championship Series, a wild swing from one extreme to the other over the long weekend.
By cleaning up the flaws that cost them in Games 1 and 2, they rebounded in Games 3 and 4 to force a decisive fifth game that goes Wednesday at 4:07 p.m. ET at what will be a rocking Rogers Centre.
Through it all they remained on the same even keel that’s served them so well all season long, from the early bullpen implosions and unsteady play that dropped them seven games under .500 on June 2 to the trade deadline buildup and 43-18 run to close the campaign.
“I think that’s one of the really cool things about this team,” says R.A. Dickey. “I’m speaking from personal feelings and what I’ve observed – there hasn’t been one game that has superseded another as far as making people behave differently or feel differently. We know we have a good baseball team and guys are still cutting up, [Munenori] Kawasaki was dancing on the bus after we lost the first two games on the way to our hotel, and it was hilarious.
“That’s just the kind team we have, and that’s why we don’t want it to end, because it’s really special. From personal experience, the feeling hasn’t changed. We just want to win a ballgame, end of story. Whether you’re down 2-0, whether you’re up 2-0, whether it’s the first game of the series, doesn’t matter, inconsequential and that’s a neat aura to project. That doesn’t always happen.”
Neither do rallies from 2-0 deficits in the division series.
Only five teams have climbed out of such a hole to advance and just two of them – most recently the 2012 San Francisco Giants – have accomplished the feat after losing the first two games at home.
Despite dropping four of their last five regular-season games after clinching the AL East, the Blue Jays were riding high entering the post-season, with Troy Tulowitzki returning from his cracked left shoulder blade to play the final weekend in Tampa Bay.
Then, their playoff run was nearly over before it got started.
“Wow,” Kevin Pillar replies when asked to describe the change in outlook from one travel day to another in the division series. “Being down 2-0 is not exactly where we pictured us being, but our mindset the whole time was, ‘We’ve got to win three games, it doesn’t matter how you do it, what order you do it in.’ It’s definitely nice flying home and knowing that we’ve got another game in Toronto.”
The winner-take-all post-season contest will be just the second in franchise history – the Blue Jays lost Game 7 of the 1985 ALCS to the Kansas City Royals 6-2 at Exhibition Stadium, blowing a 3-1 series lead in the best-of-seven.
This time, they’re aiming to be on the other end of the comeback, with the Rangers feeling the heat after missing two chances to close things out.
“I would imagine they were looking forward to closing it out at home, but we saw what they did to make the post-season,” Pillar says of the Rangers. “They lost some big games down the stretch and responded. They have confidence – they won two games in Toronto, we didn’t win any games. Momentum is out the window, it’s just going to be whoever goes out and plays better.”
Marcus Stroman, arguably the Blue Jays’ best starter since his remarkable return from a knee injury last month, gets the start against Cole Hamels in a rematch of Game 2, won 6-4 by the Rangers in 14 innings.
David Price, who threw 50 pitches in three innings during an 8-4 win in Game 4, says he expects to be available for more relief work, although the Blue Jays may be reluctant to use him for more than a batter or two.
“I’ll be ready for Wednesday,” he says.
Debate still rages over manager John Gibbons’ decision to use the ace left-hander in relief Monday despite what was a six-run lead when he entered the game, making Stroman the man for Game 5. But Price supported the win-now, worry-about-tomorrow-later mentality employed by Gibbons and expressed his faith in the 24-year-old right-hander.
“He wants the ball, and that’s what you want to see from a young kid,” says Price. “He’s made one post-season start, he threw the ball extremely well in Game 2 in Toronto, and he’ll be ready.
“I mean, there’s no doubts on this team. When we lost both games in Toronto, we said just bring it back home, that’s all we need to do. Worry about tomorrow and then get the next game, and we did a great job of coming in here with our backs against the walls and winning two elimination games against a very good ball club. I know he’s ready, he’s chomping at the bit. He’s a ball full of energy and I’m excited to watch him pitch Wednesday.”
So, too, are Blue Jays fans who have waited since 1993 for a game like this, one that seemed so unlikely in the wake of Friday’s Game 2 loss.
“The fact that we’re going back is everything,” says Gibbons. “You know, we’ve been good at home all year. We didn’t get those two games there, we didn’t play particularly well necessarily, but that’s where we’re best. And that was the goal to come down here, hopefully get it back there. That’s what we’ve done so we’ll see.”