Gallardo pitches Rangers to ALDS victory over Blue Jays

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[October 09, 2015]  TORONTO -- Yovani Gallardo got the result he always has when he faces the Toronto Blue Jays.

David Price got the result he usually has when he pitches in the postseason.

The result was a 5-3 victory by the Texas Rangers in the first game of the American League Division Series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday.

Gallardo, the Rangers right-hander, held the Blue Jays to four hits and two runs over five innings and has won all four of his career starts against the Blue Jays.

"The ball was up in the zone a little bit but we stayed with the game plan and got some ground balls whenever I needed to and limited the damage," Gallardo said.

Price, the Blue Jays left-hander, allowed five hits that included two home runs and five runs in seven innings to run his postseason record to 1-6.

"I just didn't pitch the way I'm capable of," Price said.

Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos hit a two-run homer and second baseman Rougned Odor hit a solo shot.


Price was pitching with 11 days off after missing his final start of the season but said that was no factor.

"It was just nerves those first couple of pitches," he said.

Right fielder Jose Bautista hit a solo home run for Toronto.

Both teams lost players to injury. The Texas Rangers lost third baseman Adrian Beltre to a stiff lower back when he slid into second in the third and it was not certain when he might return.

"We'll know more tonight and also in the morning where he's at," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said.

Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson took a knee in the head when he slid hard into second base to break up a possible double play in the fourth.

"He came out, precautionary, I think he got a little light-headed," Blue Jay manager John Gibbons said. "They checked for a concussion and he apparently passed all the tests so that's good news."

Bautista came out of the game after the eighth with a hamstring cramp but was expected to play Friday.

The Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the third.

Price hit Odor with a pitch to open the inning. Odor took second when Chirinos grounded out to third and scored when center fielder Delino DeShields singled through a hole left when second baseman Ryan Goins broke toward the bag at second.

 

Goins said it was going to be a pickoff play from catcher Russell Martin, something they've run before. "He got a pitch you'd expect him to pull, a changeup, but he found the hole," Goins said.

DeShields took second on a groundout to short by right fielder Shin Soo-Choo and scored on a single to center by Beltre.

Beltre left the game in the middle of the third with lower-back stiffness and was replaced at third base by infielder Hanser Alberto.

"Obviously we want Adrian in the game," Banister said. "He's the heart and soul of this club."

The Blue Jays scored a run in the fourth on an infield hit by designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion that brought home left fielder Ben Revere, who led off with a single.

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Donaldson followed with a walk. Donaldson made a crushing slide at second on a fielder's choice grounder to third by Bautista.

Donaldson took a knee in the head from Odor on the play and came out of the game for pinch-hitter Ezequiel Carrera in the fifth. Infielder Cliff Pennington took over at third base in the sixth.

With runners at the corners, Encarnacion hit a trickler to third that Alberto could not field as Revere came home with the first Blue Jays run against Gallardo in his three starts against them this season.

Chirinos put the Rangers ahead 4-1 with a home run to left in the fifth after Odor was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game.

"I've known Dave since 2010 when I got traded to Tampa Bay," Chirinos said. "I know the way he pitches and how he likes to attack the hitters. I was taking that first pitch and looked for a fastball middle in. I was able to square it up and hit it out of the park."

The Blue Jays scored in the fifth on doubles by Martin and center fielder Kevin Pillar.

Bautista greeted right-handed reliever Keone Kela with a home run to open the bottom of the sixth to cut the Rangers' lead to 4-3.

Odor restored the two-run lead when he lined a one-out homer to right in the seventh.

Left-hander Jake Diekman set down the Blue Jays in order in the seventh and again in the eighth.

Right-hander Sam Dyson took over in the ninth for the Rangers and gave up a leadoff single to Encarnacion but nothing else to secure the save.



"I liked the effort and I liked our intensity," Martin said. "They played a little better than we did. Everybody's different. I'm over it and ready to come out tomorrow."

NOTES: Rangers manager Jeff Banister said LHP Martin Perez (3-6, 4.46 ERA) will start the third game of the series to be played Sunday in Arlington, Texas. ... Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said C Dioner Navarro will be behind the plate Sunday when RHP Marco Estrada starts Game 3. They worked well together during the season. ... SS Troy Tulowitzki batted fifth in the Blue Jays lineup because of his career batting average (.407, 11-for-27) against Rangers starter RHP Yovani Gallardo. It was the third game for Tulowitzki since he suffered a broken left shoulder blade in a Sept. 12 collision with CF Kevin Pillar at Yankee Stadium. ... LHP Cole Hamels (13-8, 3.65) will start Game 2 of the ALDS on Friday for the Rangers and the Blue Jays will send out RHP Marcus Stroman (4-0, 1.67).

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