Bat flip, punch and now Blue Jays-Rangers ALDS rematch

The relative lack of offense on the part of the Blue Jays this season combined with a volatile bullpen – which on October 1 had blown five saves in seven games – the key to the Blue Jays’ success in this series may hinge upon two relievers who have had very different seasons: Brett Cecil and Joe Biagini. (All games on TBS).

Troy Tulowitzki hit a bases-loaded triple for the Blue Jays. (.238, 20, 61 with San Diego and Toronto). Toronto will send right-hander Marco Estrada to the mound against lefty Cole Hamels for Texas. Hamels went 15-5 this year but was just 1-1 with a 7.31 ERA over his last six starts.

Blue Jays: LHP J.A. Happ, a 20-game victor, allowed one run in seven innings in a win against the Rangers on May 5. Some pundits believe they’ll only lose two games but win three overall. They also were 4-3 against Texas this season.

Of course the two teams met already a few times in 2016, with the infamous Rougned Odor punch to Jose Bautista’s jaw being the lasting image from that exchange. The ensuing brawl resulted in discipline against 14 players and staff. Look for Beltran to play a major role in Game 1. They last met on May 15th, so it’s been almost five calendar months since the two teams met. Texas won the AL West. He started Game 5 of the series in which the Rangers famously blew a 2-0 lead in the best of 5 only to succumb to the Blue Jays capped off by the Bautista bat-flip.

A rematch of last year’s tense five-game series? TicketProcess.com encourages all fans interested in purchasing affordable tickets to Game 3 on Sunday, October 9 or Game 4 on Monday, October 10 to visit their popular online exchange now.

Play in the two American League Divisional Playoff series begin today with games in Arlington, Texas, and Cleveland. The Jays executed, while the Rangers faltered. Gomez became their primary leadoff hitter the last three weeks of the regular season.

Advantage: Right now the Texas Rangers have the advantage over the Jays as they are hitting and can steal bases. Beltre had his third career.300/30/100 season. Obviously we would have liked to have a played a lot more competitively. He missed 39 games with a fractured left forearm before returning for the last three games of the regular season. This is the eighth time the Rangers have made the playoffs. Estrada was the anchor for the Jays last season in playoffs saving their season multiple times. However, Edwin Encarnacion with that 3-run homer to lift them over Baltimore has to be the hottest one at the moment.

Estrada was strong down the stretch, allowing a total of two runs in 19 innings over his final three turns, to bounce back from a rough stretch over the previous month. Odor, Bautista, Gibbons the Rangers’ Steve Buechele and Toronto’s Josh Donaldson were ejected from the game. The Blue Jays scored 4.69 runs a game, good for fifth. Toronto has several pending free agents, including Bautista, Encarnacion, Saunders, Cecil and RHP R.A. Dickey. Jason Grilli and Roberto Osuna struggled in September. If he is not available against Texas, Grilli would likely handle the ninth inning. That left eight relievers on the 25-man roster. They will lineup a rotation of Cole Hamels, Yu Darvish, Colby Lewis and Martin Perez. However, Toronto should be in good spirits having come through a morale-boosting 11th inning Wild Card walk off home run win against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.

The 2015 season was a tale of two halves for Cecil.

For the Rangers, Hamels is an ace, but he hasn’t fared well in his career against Toronto (0-2, 6.97 ERA in four starts).

– Unruly Fans. The noisy crowds in Canada are gaining a reputation for bad behavior. However, he has been homer-prone, which could be an issue against the Jays – he’s given up 24 longballs this season, though 15 of those dingers came in his first 13 starts of the year. During the seven games, Toronto outscored Texas 36-21.