UPDATE: Both Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista will be in today's lineup after suffering injuries on Thursday.
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The wait is nearly over for Toronto Blue Jays fans. On Thursday at 3:30 p.m. ET Game 1 of ALDS between Toronto and the Texas Rangers will take place at the Rogers Centre. It's the first postseason series (and first home postseason series) for the Blue Jays since 1993.
Scroll to the bottom of the page for the MLB ALDS live stream and radio broadcast.
Toronto will certainly be a hostile environment today when David Price (18-5, 2.45 ERA) takes the mound to face Rangers' right-hander Yovani Gallardo (13-11, 3.42 ERA). Both clubs used a surge late in the season to capture their respective divisions, but the Rangers needed their ace, Cole Hamels, to pitch the final game of the year because they hadn't yet clinched the division. He'll be ready for Game 2.
Gallardo will be tasked with facing the MLB's best offense. Toronto led the league in runs scored (891), home runs (232) and OPS (.797) behind the bats of MVP candidate Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Russell Martin. The Blue Jays acquired big names at the trade deadline, including Troy Tulowitzki and Ben Revere, who have contributed to their offensive production in the second half of the season.
Gallardo will be appearing in his sixth career postseason game, making his fifth start. He's 1-2 with a 2.08 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 20 strikeouts in 26 innings during his time with the Milwaukee Brewers. The right-hander has also faced the Blue Jays twice this season and is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 0.81 WHIP in 13 2/3 innings.
Although Price is one of the best pitchers in the MLB and a frontrunner for the AL Cy Young this year, he's just 1-5 with a 4.50 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 36 strikeouts in 10 games (five starts) in the postseason, including an 0-3 record against the Rangers. Price faced the Texas in the ALDS back in 2010 and 2011 when he was pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays, and in three starts against them he owns a 4.66 ERA and 1.29 WHIP.
However, that was a completely different Rangers team. Price faced the Rangers once this season (Aug. 26) and earned a win after surrendering two earned runs on five hits and a walk over six innings.
Nonetheless, Texas was not too far behind Toronto this year. They ranked third in the MLB with 751 runs scored and eighth with a .739 OPS. They also finished top-10 in hits (1,419) and batting average (.257). Consistent play from Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland kept Texas afloat during the first half and then second half surges from Shin-Soo Choo, Adrian Beltre, Rougned Odor and Elvis Andrus propelled the Rangers to the top of the AL West.
The highly anticipated Game 1 matchup between these two clubs begins this afternoon as Toronto looks for their first postseason victory in 22 years and Texas hopes to redeem themselves after losing the inaugural AL Wild Card Game (their last postseason appearance) back in 2012 against the Baltimore Orioles.
Click here for this afternoon's lineups.
Check out the live stream for today's game here as well as the radio broadcast here (TOR) or here (TEX).
