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.
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.”
Astros 5, Royals 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — George Springer and Colby Rasmus homered, and Collin McHugh pitched six solid innings as the Houston Astros defeated the Kansas City Royals 5-2 Thursday night in the opener of an American League Division Series.
The defending AL champion Royals lost for the fifth time in seven meetings with the Astros this season. Last year, the Royals beat the Oakland Athletics in the AL wild-card game, then swept the Los Angeles Angels and the Baltimore Orioles before falling to the San Francisco Giants in a seven-game World Series.
While the Astros were a horrid 33-48 on the road during the regular season, they have begun the playoffs with away victories over the New York Yankees and the Royals. Home teams are 0-4 in postseason play this October.
Rasmus, who also homered in the AL wild-card game in the Bronx, has an extra-base hit in his first five postseason games. The left fielder, who belted 25 homers in the regular season, hit right-hander Ryan Madson’s first pitch out to right-center in the eighth.
Springer, who is 8-for-15 with three home runs in four games at Kauffman Stadium, homered in the fifth.
McHugh limited the Royals to four hits and two runs, both solo homers by designated hitter Kendrys Morales. He walked one and struck out one.
After he exited, Astros relievers Tony Sipp, Will Harris, Oliver Perez and Luke Gregerson held the Royals scoreless over the final three innings. Gregerson picked up the save.
The Royals threatened in the eighth with two-out singles by second baseman Ben Zobrist and center fielder Lorenzo Cain. Perez was summoned to face first baseman Eric Hosmer, and the left-hander retired him on a foul pop up to third base.
The Astros loaded the bases with no outs to begin the game. Second baseman Jose Altuve singled to left on right-hander Yordano Ventura’s second pitch. Springer drew a walk in a nine-pitch at-bat, and shortstop Carlos Correa singled to right to fill the bases.
Rasmus and designated hitter Evan Gattis made productive groundouts, each getting home a run. Altuve scored on Rasmus’ grounder to second baseman Ben Zobrist, who made a diving stop.
Springer came home on Gattis’ grounder to shortstop. Ventura threw 24 pitches, 18 for strikes, in the first inning.
The Astros added a run in the second. Center fielder Jake Marisnick doubled to the left-center gap with two outs and scored on Altuve’s single.
Morales led off the Royals’ second with a home run, just inside the right field foul pole on a 2-1 count, hitting McHugh’s 90 mph fastball.
There was a 49-minute rain delay after the second inning.
Chris Young replaced Ventura after the delay. Ventura gave up three runs on four hits and a walk while striking out two, throwing 42 pitches.
In Young’s first two innings, the Astros failed to put the ball in play, six strikeouts and a walk. He wound up throwing four innings of one-run ball.
Morales homered again in the fourth inning on a McHugh changeup. He became the first Royal to have a multi-homer postseason game since Hall of Famer George Brett hit two on Oct. 11, 1985, against Toronto. The blasts were the third and fourth postseason homers of Morales’ career.
Altuve led off the fifth with a single, his third hit. Altuve, who led the American League with 38 stolen bases, was thrown out trying to steal second by catcher Salvador Perez.
That became significant moments later when Springer pounced on 3-1 Young 88 mph fastball and drove it over the left field fence, pushing the Astros’ advantage to 4-2.