TORONTO — It came down to a battle of the bullpens. The Texas Rangers won that and ultimately the game Friday.
While the bullpen held the Toronto Blue Jays to two hits over the final seven innings, the Rangers scored twice in the 14th inning to earn a 6-4 victory and take a 2-0 lead in the American League Division Series.
“As far as our bullpen is concerned, what a phenomenal job they did today and the zeros they put up,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was not surprised by the strength of the Texas bullpen.
“No, no, we saw them early in the year,” he said. “They’ve got some big arms.”
The Blue Jays’ bullpen took a hit when left-hander Brett Cecil suffered what Gibbons called “a significant tear in his calf.”
Cecil was injured in a rundown play that ended the eighth inning.
The Blue Jays bullpen also excelled until the 14th inning when Hanser Alberto, filling in a third base for injured Adrian Beltre, singled in the go-ahead run against right-hander LaTroy Hawkins.
Hawkins retired the first two batters of the 14th before second baseman Rougned Odor reached first on an infield hit.
Catcher Chris Gimenez followed with a single. Odor rounded second and slid back to the bag after a throw from right fielder Jose Bautista nearly caught him.
The call stood after a video review although the Rogers Centre crowd disagreed.
“It looked pretty clear to a lot of us that there was a little bit of space in there,” Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar said. “Besides, I thought it passed the eye test. But we’ve got the best umpires in the world for a reason so they’re doing job as well.”
After the review, Alberto singled to center to score Odor. Right-hander Liam Hendriks replaced Hawkins.
Center fielder Delino DeShields beat out an infield single to shortstop and another run scored.
Right-hander Keone Kela picked up the win and right-hander Ross Ohlendorf secured the save, pitching around a hit batter.
The Blue Jays know they must turn things around in a hurry.
“What do we have to do?” Pillar asked. “Not lose first of all. Just get back to what we’ve done. We haven’t really played clean baseball. We’ve pitched outstanding but it’s just a matter of stringing together some hits.”
The Rangers forced extra innings on an RBI single by pinch-hitter Mike Napoli in the eighth.
Left fielder Ben Revere gave Toronto a 4-3 lead with a fifth-inning single.
The Blue Jays got a first-inning homer from third baseman Josh Donaldson.
Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman allowed four runs (three earned), five hits and two walks while striking out five in seven-plus innings
Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels allowed four runs (two earned) and six hits with six strikeouts in seven innings.
Royals 5, Astros 4
KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Ben Zobrist drove in Alcides Escobar with the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as the Kansas City Royals rallied from a three-run deficit to defeat the Houston Astros 5-4 on Friday and even the American League Division Series at one win each.
Zobrist, acquired in a July 28 trade with Oakland, grounded a single to left on a curveball by Houston reliever Will Harris that scored Escobar, who led off the inning with a triple to right center.
It was a survival game for the Royals after losing the opener on Thursday. They play the next two games in Houston and on Sunday face left-hander Dallas Keuchel, who is 15-0 this season at Minute Maid Park.
Royals relievers Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Madson and Wade Davis shut down the Astros in the final three innings. Herrera picked up the victory and Davis logged his first postseason save.
Harris, the fourth of six Astros pitchers, took the loss.
The Astros jumped out to a 4-1 lead but managed just two singles after the third inning.
Both starters — Astros left-hander Scott Kazmir and Royals right-hander Johnny Cueto — were acquired in late July trades to bolster their club’s chances for the postseason.
Kazmir, who was acquired from Oakland, limited the Royals to three hits in seven scoreless innings on July 24 in his Astros debut but was clubbed in his final three regular-season starts, yielding 15 runs and 22 hits, including five home runs, for an 11.57 ERA.
Kazmir departed after 5 1/3 innings, charged with three runs, five hits and a walk.