Down two games and on the brink of elimination, the Toronto Blue Jays have come roaring back to tie their American League Division Series at two games apiece with a monstrous 8-4 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday.
Toronto’s hot bats are sizzling again and at the right moment, but Texas will counter with starting pitcher and former Word Series champion Cole Hamels for the series finale to try and keep Canada’s sluggers at bay.
Let’s take a look at how this deciding bout will turn out, and which of these two feisty ball clubs will advance to the ALCS. And let’s not forget that there’s also another Game 5 on tap in the American League this Monday between the Houston Astros and the Kansas City Royals. Check out our preview for that equally riveting and important matchup here.
[sc:MLBArticles ]Texas Rangers vs. Toronto Blue Jays ALDS Game 5 Preview
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto
When: Wednesday, September 14, 4:00 PM ET
Line: Texas Rangers (+165) at Toronto Blue Jays (-185); total: 8.0 – view all MLB lines
TV Broadcast: FS1
Betting on the Texas Rangers
In a span of 24 hours, the Texas Rangers saw their 2-0 ALDS lead evaporate as the Blue Jays regained their offensive prowess that had them torching the rest of the majors in the second half of the regular season. The Rangers’ latest defeat was an 8-4 clubbing that saw them trail by as much as six runs in the fourth inning of Game 4 on Tuesday. The team has now lost nine of its last ten ALDS home games.
[sc:MLB240banner ]Having the series clincher back in Toronto should work in favor of Texas. The team, after all, won the first two games of the series in Rogers Centre. Furthermore, The Rangers are no strangers to this predicament. In 2010, the team won its first two ALDS games on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays, then lost lost the next two at home before clinching the series back in Tampa in Game 5.
In addition, former World Series MVP Cole Hamels is set to take the mound this Wednesday. The Rangers have won all of the past 11 games where Hamels was their starting pitcher, with the lefty posting a 7-0 record and a solid ERA of 3.16 in that stretch. In the playoffs, Hamels is relatively sound just the same; he is 7-4 with a 3.05 ERA in 14 career postseason starts.
On offense, the Rangers’ wily hitters in this series have to bring their A-game to stay toe-to-toe with the Blue Jays’ own firepower. Look for Delino DeShields (6-for-20 with two doubles, three runs and two RBIs in the series) and Shin Soo Choo (3-for-4 with two runs in Game 4) to continue providing quality at-bats in support of the team’s main sluggers in Adrian Beltre and Prince Fielder.
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Betting on the Toronto Blue Jays
Just when we thought that the Toronto Blue Jays were about to get swept, their offense suddenly comes back to life to take two key road victories and force a Game 5 against the Texas Rangers.
Centerfielder Kevin Pillar has been outstanding for Toronto in this postseason, hitting .412 with two doubles, four RBIs and two runs in 17 at-bats against Texas in the ALDS. And of course, the team’s offensive MVP in Josh Donaldson is also doing his part, knocking out two homers and having three runs batted-in through the four postseason games. However, his 4-of-14 output in that span is a bit of a concern.
Nonetheless, the Jays’ offense is peaking at the right moment, increasing their run total after each game in this series so far. But what good is their run production if they don’t have stellar pitching behind them? Enter Marcus Stroman.
The 24-year-old Stroman has put his torn ACL issues from the regular season behind him, and is now one of the scariest righties to face off against. In the four games he started in September after his recovery from injury, Stroman had 18 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.67. Now comes a rematch between he and Hamels from Game 2 of this series, where he gave up three earned runs and tallied five K’s in seven innings of modest work.
The Blue Jays also have history on their side entering Wednesday’s match: only three teams in MLB history have won a best-of-five series after winning the first two games on the road. Toronto will definitely pull out all the stops in the winner-take-all bout to ensure that Texas will not be the third club (on a second different occasion) to earn that rare distinction, and keep its fantastic season alive.
Writer’s Prediction
Stroman pitches his first-ever postseason gem and Toronto’s batters deal just enough damage as they defeat the Rangers, 4-1, to advance to the ALCS.
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