Toronto, Cleveland take 2-0 leads in AL Series
ARLINGTON, Texas – Toronto and Cleveland both won on Friday to take 2-0 series leads in their respective American League Division Series, putting Texas and Boston on the brink of swift eliminations.
In the openers of the National League Division Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers won narrowly at Washington while a late homer was enough to give the Chicago Cubs victory over San Francisco in a classic pitchers’ duel.
Toronto hit three home runs in the fifth inning and won 5-3 at Texas.
The Blue Jays can clinch the bestof-five series with a win at home on Sunday, but will be mindful of the outcome of last year’s series between the same teams when it was the Rangers who started with two road wins but ended up losing.
Troy Tulowitzki’s two-run drive in the second put Toronto ahead to stay, and the lead was padded with three solo homers in the space of
five at- bats in the fifth, from Kevin Pillar, Ezequiel Carrera and Edwin Encarnarcion.
Toronto only had six hits for the game, against 13 by the Rangers, but made them count.
Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ gave up nine of those hits but only one run while pitching into the sixth inning, striking out five and walking only one.
Texas scored twice in the eighth inning, when a line drive by Carlos Gomez hit Toronto pitcher Francisco Liriano in the neck, sending him to the hospital.
Adrian Beltre led off the ninth with a double, to threaten a Texas comeback but Toronto closer Roberto Osuna – who came in with one out in the eighth after Liriano was forced out – quickly ended the inning and sealed the win.
Texas starter Yu Darvish became the first pitcher to allow four homers in a postseason game since 2002 and the Rangers’ dismal home record in ALDS games continued; they have won only once in 12 attempts.
Cleveland’s Corey Kluber held Boston scoreless into the eighth inning to set up a 6-0 home win against the Red Sox.
Showing no signs of a late-season leg injury, Kluber moved the Indians to within one win of a place in the AL Championship Series for the first time in nine years.
Lonnie Chisenhall connected for a three-run homer in the second inning off Boston starter David Price, who fell to 0-8 in nine career playoff starts. He lasted just 3 1/3 innings and once again crumbled with a chance to silence critics who say he can’t pitch in the big games.
Price came in 10-2 in his career against the Indians, including a 5-0 mark at Progressive Field.
But that didn’t mean anything to these Indians, who strung together four straight hits – three of them soft singles – to put him in a 4-0 hole after just two innings.
That’s all Kluber needed. Making his first postseason start, the Cy Young candidate was in control bar the fourth inning when he walked two batters to put runners on with one out, but got David Ortiz to pop up and then struck out Hanley Ramirez looking to end the threat.