ARLINGTON, Texas — When David Price arrived at Globe Life Park in Arlington Monday morning, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons told him that if he was asked to start warming up in the bullpen at some point during that afternoon’s game, he was definitely going in.
A few hours later—in the midst of an eventful bullpen day for Price who played the most intensely-monitored game of catch ever with his good buddy Marcus Stroman and made a nice snag on Kevin Pillar’s home run ball—it happened exactly like Gibbons told him it would.
Price, the 30-year-old Cy Young winner and one of the most dominant starting pitchers in the American League, took the mound with two out in the fifth for his first relief appearance since 2010, needing just one pitch to retire Shin-Soo Choo and end a Texas Rangers threat.
It was the kind of selfless, all-hands-on-deck move that has helped propel the Blue Jays through a 24-hour period in Texas that began with them on the brink of elimination, all but written off from the ALDS, and ended with them tied in the series and heading back to Toronto for a pivotal fifth game in front of a delirious home crowd.
It was unconventional, to be sure—but it worked. And Price even ended up taking home the win, after Wednesday’s starter R.A. Dickey was removed one out short of the distinction. Not that he wanted it.
"R.A. threw the ball much better than I did. He gave up one run in four and two-thirds, and I gave up three runs in three innings. He threw the ball fantastic," Price said. "I wish the scorekeeper would just give him a win because he’s the guy that deserves it, not me. That’s not the way I want to win games."
Price had been up throughout the late innings of Sunday night’s Game 3, as a contingency plan in case a Blue Jays reliever got in trouble. His services weren’t required that night, but once Price started to throw in the bullpen again on Monday, everyone standing by knew what was coming.
"It was pretty cool having him out there and getting to watch him do his thing," Blue Jays reliever Aaron Sanchez said. "This dude’s done so much in the game—everyone knows what he’s capable of. And it’s not easy to come out of the ‘pen like that. But that was just David Price is being David Price."
Price the reliever narrowed the repertoire of Price the starter, working almost entirely with his two fastballs and a changeup. He threw harder than he normally does, averaging almost 97 mph with his two-seamer, and earned five swinging strikes in three innings. Even his change-up was coming out harder than it normally does, as he ramped the lone off-speed pitch he used up to an average of 88 mph.
"It didn’t really seem like he wanted to go to the curveball," said Price’s catcher, Russell Martin. "It’s not his usual thing, but he’s a gamer. He’s a competitor. He’ll take the ball anytime."
Martin said he noticed Price getting warm in the bullpen while he was still catching Dickey, and started getting excited to see a Cy Young winner coming out of the bullpen to replace another Cy Young winner on the mound. Of course, this is a Toronto sports team, so there had to be some controversy as to the spot Gibbons chose to bring Price into, which came one out shy of Dickey finishing the fifth inning and securing the win. But Martin thought it was the right call.
"We’re trying to win games. I’m behind my manager 100 per cent in that situation," Martin said. "I definitely believe that Dickey could have gotten [Choo] out. But you can’t fault Gibby for going to the lefty-on-lefty matchup. And one pitch later, the guy’s out. So it was a good call."
Price cruised through his first six batters, eliminating his lone base runner with a timely double play. But then the Rangers started to get some hits off of him, especially Elvis Andrus, who drove in the Rangers fourth run with a single in the eighth inning (his second off Price) which knocked Price from the game.
Although Price actually finished his three innings with a statistically worse line than Dickey had in his four-and-two-thirds, Martin didn’t think Price pitched poorly. Rather, he thought the Blue Jays’ Game 1 starter, who surrendered six hits and three runs while pitching with a six-run lead, was the victim of balls that found infield holes.
"It was a groundball here, a groundball there, a broken bat single up the middle—I’m not going to look into it too much," Martin said. "He was making his pitches and being aggressive. When you have a lead like that you don’t want to walk anybody. He was just attacking the zone. They were able to scratch a run here and there. But overall he did his job. He did what he’s supposed to do—get outs."
Gibbons said his No. 1 starter likely wouldn’t be available to pitch if needed again in relief in Game 5, but Price said the complete opposite, asserting confidently that he could bounce back for Wednesday’s critical game at Rogers Centre.
"I’ll be ready," Price said. "Whatever they need me to do—I’ll be ready."
Of course, the Blue Jays will be hoping that Stroman can provide six or seven strong innings Wednesday before giving way to the back-end of the Blue Jays bullpen, which has been especially strong this post-season. That would set Price up to start Game 2 of the ALCS on regular rest. Of course, the Blue Jays have to get there first.
While many speculated on social media that Price would be miffed by not starting Game 5, the Blue Jays ace was having no part of it when he spoke to press after Monday’s win. He said he was excited just to help out his team’s cause—even in Sunday’s Game 3 he was telling Blue Jays relievers in the bullpen how much he wanted to pitch—and that players swallowing pride was a necessary aspect of the comeback the Blue Jays have staged.
"This is a pretty selfless team, and whenever you’re a part of something like this where 25 guys on that active roster and everybody else in that clubhouse has one common goal, that’s special," Price said. "You don’t get that a lot. There’s always somebody that cares more about what they do than what the team does. But that’s not the case here."