ARLINGTON, Texas – Should the Toronto Blue Jays manage to extend their American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers to a Game 4 on Monday, could David Price end up starting the game on short rest?
Manager John Gibbons didn’t shoot down the idea Saturday.
“If we win (Sunday) anything’s a possibility in some capacity, but we’ve got to win (Sunday),” Gibbons replied.
Price allowed five runs on five hits and two walks in Game 1, throwing 90 pitches, 59 for strikes. Regular rest would peg him for a potential Game 5, but if the ace left-hander can go on three days of rest in a potential Game 4 on Monday, the Blue Jays could then use Marcus Stroman on normal rest in a decisive fifth game.
“We’ve got to worry about (Sunday) first,” said Gibbons. “We can do anything we want, really. But it’d probably not be wise to get too far ahead.”
– Shi Davidi
ODOR A PAIN: Second baseman Rougned Odor has been in the middle of several key moments for the Rangers in their two victories so far, despite collecting just two hits, one of them a home run.
Combined with two hit by pitches and a walk, he’s scored five times so far, or every time he’s been on base, making him a major pain in the eight hole of the Rangers lineup.
“We’re trying not to hit him, I know that, trying not to walk him,” John Gibbons quipped when asked if the Blue Jays needed to pitch him differently. “Even going into the series, I’d see him on the highlights, for a second baseman he’s got a lot of sock in his bat. He’s dangerous, real dangerous down there. I don’t know what we’re going to do differently, but we’ve got to get him out.”
With Shin-Soo Choo, Prince Fielder and Josh Hamilton a combined 2-for-27, it’s the likes of Odor, Robinson Chirinos and leadoff man Delino Deshields that have given the Blue Jays fits.
“It is a tough task to get through the middle of both lineups here,” said Gibbons. “That does take its toll (on pitchers), but we’ve got enough respect for Odor to know that he can burn you.”
– Shi Davidi
HANDLING EMOTIONS: Kevin Pillar is among the majority of Blue Jays players making their first trip to the post-season, and he admits there was an acclimation period to the feeling of playoff baseball early on.
“To be honest with you, the first day there were a lot of emotions there, more of it was the build-up and anticipation of getting out there,” he said. “The leadoff hitter being able to hit me a ball (in Game 1) allowed me to settle in. It’s just like anything else, your debut or whatever, you’re always going to remember your first. After a while, it feels normal again. You understand the importance of it, the magnitude of it, but the sooner you’re able to get back to that feeling of it just being another game, you kind of settle in and go about your job.”
Pillar has two doubles, an RBI and a run scored in two games.
– Shi Davidi
HOLLAND STARTS: There’s no longer any uncertainty over the Rangers’ Game 4 starter. Manager Jeff Banister announced Saturday that left-hander Derek Holland will get the start over Colby Lewis, one of the most accomplished pitchers in Rangers playoff history.
“We like the body of work, we like what we’ve seen from (Holland) lately,” manager Jeff Banister said. “One of the more challenging decisions that we’ve had to make, felt like that we definitely had a tough decision and really we were in good place because we had two candidates that we felt really good about.”
Holland started 10 games for the Rangers, posting a 4.91 ERA with 11 home runs allowed in 58.2 innings. The 29-year-old, who missed most of the season with a shoulder injury, has allowed a .776 OPS while facing right-handed batters in his career.
The Blue Jays’ lineup skews right-handed, one reason they were baseball’s top offence against left-handers like Holland in 2015. Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin and Chris Colabello are among the Blue Jays with long track records of success against lefties such as Holland and Game 3 starter Martin Perez, but there’s no margin for error now that Toronto faces elimination.
“Our back’s against the wall,” Tulowitzki said. “In an ideal world we don’t want to be down 2-0, but we are. It’s what we’re faced with. We’ll see what we’re made of.”
– Ben Nicholson-Smith
RUNNING PREPARED: Dalton Pompey stole two bases Friday, providing the Blue Jays with a welcome burst of speed. Midway through close contests like Game 2, Pompey will often head inside the Blue Jays’ clubhouse to warm up his legs on a stationary bike or elliptical machine. Then he returns to the dugout, awaits the go-ahead from bench coach DeMarlo Hale and lets his legs do the rest.
“Once you’re out there the adrenaline kicks in,” he said.
– Ben Nicholson-Smith