It was another wacky game at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. This time the Blue Jays came out on top and defeated the Texas Rangers in Game 5 of the ALDS to advance to the ALCS for the first time in 22 years.
The 6-3 win capped off a three-game comeback after which the Blue Jays were down 0-2 to begin the series.
Toronto's offense is back to form. The Blue Jays scored six runs on seven hits and two walks with clutch performances from Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. The two sluggers got their licks in on Rangers' starter Cole Hamels and reliever Sam Dyson.
Bautista finished 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs, including the go-ahead three-run homer off Dyson in the seventh inning. Encarnacion was 2-for-2 with a home run and two walks, including a game-tying solo shot off Hamels in the sixth.
Check out Bautista's game-deciding blast below:
Jays' right-hander Marcus Stroman was solid again and allowed only two earned runs on six hits and a walk over six innings. Hamels also threw a good game, but three errors in the seventh tainted his outing. The left-hander surrendered five runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks and struck out eight in 6 1/3 innings.
The Rangers got off to an early 2-0 lead thanks to an RBI groundout from Prince Fielder in the first and a solo home run from Shin-Soo Choo in the second. But Bautista and Encarnacion came through with RBIs in the third and sixth to tie up the game.
And that's when the mayhem began.
In the seventh inning Rangers' second baseman Rougned Odor was on third base with two outs. Blue Jays reliever Aaron Sanchez replaced Stroman at the start of the inning and was facing Choo in hopes of getting the final out of the seventh.
On a 2-2 count, catcher Russell Martin threw the ball back to Sanchez, but the ball hit Choo's bat and deflected down the third base line. Odor scored on the play after the umpires ruled it a live ball, which was correct under MLB rule 6.03(a)(3), according to ESPN.
Check it out below:
That gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons argued the call, but the play was not subject to a manager's challenge. Nonetheless, crew chief Dale Scott called an umpire's review. When the call was upheld, Blue Jays fans began throwing objects on the field, which further delayed the game.
After that the benches cleared twice in the bottom of the seventh when Dyson appeared to approach Encarnacion following Bautista's three-run homer and again after Troy Tulowitzki fouled out to end the inning as the two teams continued to exchange words.
The Rangers then threatened in the eighth by getting two runners on with one out, but Gibbons brought in 20-year-old closer Roberto Osuna, who struck out Josh Hamilton and Elvis Andrus to end the inning. The right-hander then retired the side in the ninth to earn his first career postseason save.
The Blue Jays lost the first two games of the series at the Rogers Centre, but then rebounded to win the next two in Texas to force Game 5. They'll now have to wait until later tonight to see who they'll face in the ALCS when the Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros battle at 8:07 p.m. ET in another Game 5 matchup.
