Blue Jays stay alive with win over Texas

Will the Rangers’ offense be able to trample down Blue Jays’ defense or Will there be Game 5 in Toronto?

Facing another must-win game, the Jays had all hands on deck Monday with Price and Stroman both available to come out of the bullpen if needed to back up Dickey. He now has at least one hit in 14 straight games and has reached base safely in each of his last 22 games overall.

It wasn’t a fantastic outing for David Price as he went three innings giving up three runs on six hits while striking out three.

But asked if he would have been so understanding earlier in his career, Dickey said: “No”. The same went for Monday, as Price was up in the bullpen early, and even caught Kevin Pillar’s second ining home run.

“After that first start, his feet will be on the ground from the first pitch”, Verducci predicted.

Holland allowed a bunt single to Ben Revere to start the game, then gave up a homer to Josh Donaldson.

No Price for Game 5 of this series. He also walked against Holland in the third one batter ahead of the lefty’s removal from the game. We didn’t get those two games there (to open the series), we didn’t play particularly well necessarily, but that’s where we’re best. That’s because Price threw 50 pitches while working three innings in relief of R.A. Dickey.

“(Brett) Cecil down, (Aaron) Loup out today, it was hard for me to do, but I thought that was the best way to win the game”. He scored later in the inning on Dickey’s wild pitch.

The Toronto Blue Jays have lived for another day as they avoided a swept by winning Game 3, 5-1, against the Rangers.

“We did it in 2010, so why not do it in 2015?” “He’s the guy you want on the mound in this situation”. After two losses in Toronto, the Jays rediscovered their power stroke in Texas. The Rangers opted to go with Holland over veteran right-hander Colby Lewis in Game 4, even though Toronto had a had a league-best. When the dust settled, the Jays had scorched Holland for six runs on five hits.

Price won his Cy Young with Tampa Bay, was traded to Detroit midway through the 2014 season and acquired by the Blue Jays on July 30.

The ESPN.com website reported on October. 12 that Dickey will face his former team of five years for his first postseason appearance. Adrian Beltre was back in the lineup for the first time since suffering a back injury last week and finished 2-for-4 with two singles, but Texas will need his power if they want to stand a chance in Game 5. Later in the inning, Chris Colabello hit a solo shot and the Blue Jays had a 3-0 lead before the Rangers stepped to the plate. “I was trying to put a good swing on it and obviously had the count in my favor and got a good pitch (change up) to hit. You know we battled to this point, and I don’t see us stopping now”, said Moreland. The Rangers have to be confident given that they won both games in Toronto, but a game five isn’t what they had in mind.

Their vaunted offence, which began to stir in Game 3, exploded in Game 4.

In the second, Price stopped warming up shortly after making a nice catch of Pillar’s home-run ball in the bullpen. Pillar delivered with his first postseason homer in the second.