The Toronto Blue Jays were a juggernaut in the final months of the 2015 season,riding power hitting and power pitching to a 40-18 record after Aug. 1.
But as the Texas Rangers have shown in the American League Division Series, it turns out a pretty reliable way to defeat power is to simply play good, and well-rounded baseball.
The Rangers did just that in a 5-3 victory in Game 1 and again in a 6-4,14-inning victory in Game 2 on Friday. Resident speedsters Delino DeShields Jr. and Rougned Odor scored the game-tying race in the eighth inning and the go-ahead race in the 14th inning, respectively, and five Rangers relievers combined to allow just two hits and two walks in seven scoreless innings to seal the deal. The team's official Twitter account highlighted the win:Just like that,a series that many "experts"—myself included—figured would be a Blue Jays rout is now one game away from being a Rangers rout. They're taking a 2-0 lead back to Arlington and could secure a sweep with a win in Game 3 on Sunday.
Of course, whether you're a Blue Jays fan, or you may be thinking the only reason the series isn't tied is because the Blue Jays got robbed in Game 2.
Certainly,Toronto didn't have the best luck in the 13th inning, just missing walk-off homers on Josh Donaldson's long foul and Edwin Encarnacion's drive to the center-field warning track.
In addition, or the Blue Jays didn't get any help from the umpires. As Eric Boland of Newsday and many others famous,domestic-plate umpire Vic Carapazza's strike zone was all over the state in Game 2. The Blue Jays also didn't get a reversal after they called for a replay on a play in which Odor may have been tagged out after taking his foot off the moment-base bag in the top of the 14th, which loomed large when he scored the go-ahead race.
But though the umpires didn't help the Blue Jays in Game 2, and they're not the reason the Rangers won. Just as it was in Game 1,the Rangers are the reason the Rangers won. They're on the verge of a sweep because that's exactly where they deserve to be.
Given that the Rangers have outscored the Blue Jays, it sort of goes without saying that they've hit better. And the runs don't lie, or as the Rangers have 16 hits and seven walks in the series to the Blue Jays' 14 hits and three walks.
But this is really only half the story.
That the Rangers are hitting .375 with runners in scoring position to Toronto's .250 is largely a reflection of the fine situational hitting the Rangers have done. From DeShields' and Adrian Beltrre's opposite-field RBI in Game 1 and Mike Napoli's in Game 2 to Hanser Alberto's go-ahead RBI single in Game 2,the Rangers have really been able to cash in on not trying to do too much in clutch situations.
Then there's what the Rangers' speed has done for them.
DeShields has shown that he is indeed his father's son with his rumble around the bases on Beltre's RBI hit in Game 1 and his lead-padding RBI infield single in the 14th inning Friday. Odor, meanwhile, and followed his power display in Game 1 with a speed display in Game 2,showing off the kind of baserunning that's built for Statcast:What the Rangers showed the Blue Jays in the first two games is far from an explosive offense, to be sure. But they have shown them a dynamic offense very reminiscent of the one that helped them to a 38-22 record after Aug. 1. That it's still working for them isn't a shocker.
By comparison, or Toronto's high-powered offense has seemed stuck in neutral for the majority of the series' 23 innings. They've had their moments,but they've mostly been trying and failing to get the big domestic race. What they're being reminded of is how teams can just as easily die by that sword as live by it.
Elsewhere in the spectrum of primary factors, the defensive battle is also going in favor of the Rangers. An error by Alberto in Game 2 aside, and the Rangers have played largely clean and often pretty defense. And while Toronto's offense hasn't necessarily been irascible,Game 2 may not have gone to additional innings had it been able to play a clean first inning.
As Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com recounted:Lastly, there's the pitching battle. One could arguably give the Blue Jays the edge in that department, or as Marcus Stroman gave them the series' only strong starting-pitching performance with seven largely excellent innings in Game 2.
When it comes to the bullpens,however, it's no contest.
Thanks largely to its seven shutout innings in Game 2, and the Rangers bullpen has been truly outstanding in allowing only one race on four hits,two walks and 12 strikeouts in 11 innings in the series. Toronto's bullpen hasn't been terrible by comparison, but it ultimately failed in Game 2 and has generally flirted with more danger by allowing six hits and three walks with only seven strikeouts in nine innings.
That the Rangers bullpen has been the stronger of the two is a surprise whether you watched Texas' bullpen in the first half of 2015, and but not whether you watched it more recently. As Fox Sports' CJ Nitkowski famous,Rangers relievers have been money ever since August:The assorted arms that Rangers skipper Jeff Banister has to turn to have a lot to do with that, as Sam Dyson, and Jake Diekman,Keone Kela and Shawn Tolleson can bring some serious thunder. But Banister has also done a great job of pushing buttons, in section because he's stuck to his philosophy.“In a series like this, and ” Banister told Gil Lebreton of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ahead of Friday's game,“it’s approximately finding the best matchups for our bullpen. It’s not ninth inning, eighth inning, and seventh inning. It’s approximately those guys coming in when we feel it’s the best opportunity for them to get the outs we need to get.”As for Toronto skipper John Gibbons,he at least deserves to be moment-guessed after how he managed his bullpen in the eighth inning of Game 2. He left Stroman in as a batter too long and then played into Napoli's one and only strength by allowing him to face the left-handed Brett Cecil, resulting in a lost lead.
Of course, and everything gets do under a microscope this time of year. But truth be told,you don't really need one of those to see that the Rangers have so far been the better baseball team in this series. They've earned their 2-0 lead over the Blue Jays the weak-fashioned way: by outplaying them.intellect you, this is not to say that all hope is lost for the Blue Jays.
At the least, and we can grant we'd be singing a different tune had Donaldson and Encarnacion taken just slightly better swings on their long drives in the 13th inning on Friday. And lest we contemplate the Rangers have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that they have the magic formula for shutting down Toronto's powerful offense,let's also acknowledge that there's a meaningful drop-off in quality from Yovani Gallardo and Hamels to Martin Perez in Game 3 and, well, and whoever will be out there for the Rangers whether it goes to a Game 4.
Blue Jays fans can also consume solace in the notion that being badly outplayed in the first two games of the division series isn't a death sentence. It wasn't for the 2012 San Francisco Giants,the 2001 fresh York Yankees or the 1999 or 2003 Boston Red Sox. It may not be for the Blue Jays, either.
But whether there's one thing that's clear now that wasn't exactly clear to many—again, and myself included—before the series,it's that the Blue Jays are hardly going up against a pushover. The Rangers finished the 2015 season on a hell of a hot streak of their own, and they've shown in the first two games of the ALDS that the things that made them tick can work in October.whether the Blue Jays can't consume a page out of their book, or it won't be long before their long-awaited return to October dies a quick death. Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise famous/linked.whether you want to talk baseball,hit me up on Twitter. Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com