It took a few games, but the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays we're all familiar with returned to form on Monday. The MLB's best offense scored eight runs on 12 hits and five walks in their 8-4 victory over the Texas Rangers to force Game 5 in the ALDS.
The Blue Jays tattooed Rangers' starter Derek Holland and the left-hander was removed from the game after just two innings. He surrendered six earned runs on five hits and a walk. Fellow starter Colby Lewis came in on relief for Holland and let up one earned run on three hits and three walks in three innings.
Toronto's first four runs were scored on homers - a two-run blast from Josh Donaldson and solo shots from Chris Colabello and Kevin Pillar. Colabello added an RBI double in the third and Pillar contributed two more RBI singles in the third and seventh.
Check out Donaldson's homer below:
Edwin Encarnacion finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI; Ben Revere was also 2-for-4 with a run scored and a walk; and Donaldson and Colabello scored two runs apiece.
Jays' knuckleballer R.A. Dickey gave his team a solid outing and surrendered just one earned run on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. David Price came on in relief for Dickey, but the left-hander again showed his ineffectiveness against Texas by letting up three earned runs on six hits over three innings. However, it didn't matter because Toronto was up 8-1 at that point.
The Rangers were able to amass 11 hits, but they left six runners on base. Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland finished 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. Adrian Beltre was back in the lineup for the first time since suffering a back injury last week and finished 2-for-4 with two singles, but Texas will need his power if they want to stand a chance in Game 5.
Texas will also need their bullpen fresh for Wednesday. Manager Jeff Bannister used Ross Ohlendorf for the second day in a row as well as Jake Diekman, Sam Dyson and Keone Kela for the third time in this series.
The likely pitching matchup for Game 5 will be Marcus Stroman vs. Cole Hamels. It will be a hostile environment at the Rogers Centre, but it's nothing Texas (or Hamels) isn't used to. They won both road games in this series and back in 2010 they defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS by winning all three of the series' road games.
Game 5 will take place at 4:07 p.m. ET on Wednesday and it'll be broadcasted by FOX Sports 1.
