Blue Jays force Game 6 with KC
Keep hopes alive behind a clutch outing by Estrada
Marco Estrada came up with a superb start in the most important outing of his career, stopping the Royals’ hit parade and helping the Toronto Blue Jays to a 7-1 victory. The ALCS heads back to Kansas City with the Royals leading the series 3-2.
TORONTO — Marco Estrada came up with a superb start in the most important outing of his career, stopping the Royals’ hit parade and helping the Blue Jays send the American League Championship Series back to Kansas City.
Estrada pitched one-hit ball into the eighth inning, giving a tattered bullpen a rest, and the Blue Jays beat the Royals 7-1 Wednesday to close to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
“It’s the start that we needed,” Troy Tulowitzki said. “They’re a great team over there. We know that. But this guy kept them off balance and allowed the offense to settle in and get some runs.”
Tulowitzki provided three of those runs. He broke the game open with a three-run double off Kelvin Herrera in the sixth, giving him seven RBIs in the series. Edwin Encarnacion had walked with the bases loaded against Edinson Volquez, who seemed flustered by close calls against the Royals.
Estrada faced the minimum 20 batters before Lorenzo Cain walked with two outs in the seventh. Closer Roberto Osuna was perfect in the ninth.
Estrada, a 32-year-old right-hander, gave his bullpen a break one day after the Royals romped 14-2 in a game that saw infielder Cliff Pennington pitch in the the ninth.
“This time around I had a better fastball command,” said Estrada, who gave up three runs in the opener. “That was the key.”
The Blue Jays are trying to become just the 13th team to rally and win of the 80 who trailed 3-1 in best-of-seven postseason series. It has happened four of 17 times in the LCS, including when the Royals bounced back against the Blue Jays in 1985 en route to their only World Series title. In this year’s best-of-five AL Division Series, the Jays fell behind 2-0, then won three straight against Texas.
Before 49,325 roaring fans, Chris Colabello’s solo homer into the leftfield seats in the second gave Estrada a lead. Estrada didn’t make a miscue until Salvador Perez homered with two outs in the eighth.
“He was really good today,” Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar said. “He didn’t miss many pitches.”