Tulowitzki keeps Blue Jays alive with three-run homerun

“I keep hearing how last year was a bad year but the years before that were pretty good”, said Estrada, who is not short on confidence. “Really the big blow was, I think it was a changeup to Tulowitzki….” Dickey was originally announced to face him, although MLB.com had a TBD by the Jays starter earlier Sunday.

For Dickey, making the post-season in the majors is a career first.

Holland (4-3) starts Game 4 against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (11-11).

Toronto grounded into four double plays, a franchise record for the post-season. But Tulowitzki, 0-for-11 in the series up until then, slammed the ball 367 feet into right field for a 5-0 lead.

“Tulo needed that he really did, he had the long lay off and injury”, said Gibbons.

“It happens” said Delino DeShields.

The Rangers still had the momentum and extended the lead to 4-1 after Robinson Chirinos hit a 392-foot home run that also allowed Odor to score his second of the game.

Josh Donaldson led off the fourth with a double and scored when Tulowitzki was the third consecutive batter walked by Perez.

Tulowitzki had been 0-for-10 in the series and was dropped to the sixth spot in the batting order for the first time this season.

Keuchel struck him out and left the game having allowed one run on five hits and three walks, with seven strikeouts. The Blue Jays start the American League Divisional Series against the Texas Rangers in Toronto on Thursday.

Cecil already made an appearance in this series during Game 1, when he threw a scoreless eighth inning against the Rangers. They were able to get the lead off hitter on 3 innings in a row and seemed to be scrapping the bottom of the barrel for runs. Josh Donaldson doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third on a Jose Bautista fly out.

“I wasn’t going to walk the bases loaded there”.

Donaldson was back in the lineup after taking a knee to the head trying to break up a double play in the opener.

Pillar opened the fifth by getting to second on a single and fielding error. “But it got enough plate and enough of his bat”.

The series shifts down from north of the border Sunday as the Rangers return home to Arlington with a chance to close it out.

Then Tulowitzki kick-started the offence on a 3-2 pitch off Gonzalez. 354 on-base percentage. Perez is 3-6 with a 4.46 ERA this season.

The Mets victory at Dodgers Stadium extended the postseason woes of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has now lost five straight playoff starts.

Perez struggled with his command after a promising start and ended up walking three and allowing four runs on six hits before being replaced in the sixth inning.

History was not on Toronto’s side going into Sunday’s game.

In Game 4 of the division series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers, expect a war as one team tries to extend the match-up while the other attempts to complete an upset.

GettyImages-491985272_master during game two of the American League Division Series at Rogers Centre on October 9, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. “We played just better baseball overall, so I think we learned from our mistakes, we corrected them, and hats off to the guys in our clubhouse, because the approach changed and we got a win because of it, and hopefully we can continue that these next two games”.