Troy Tulowitzki and the Blue Jays beat the Rangers to cut their ALDS deficit to 2-1,
play against him (.217) than any other starter.
In other words, Estrada can pitch with the confidence that nearly every ball hit behind him will get caught. Toronto’s fielders were their reassuring best in Sunday’s American League Division Series Game 3 victory, as too was the heart of its vaunted lineup.
Behind 61⁄3 innings of one-run ball from Estrada, the Jays won 5-1 to avoid a sweep in their first postseason appearance in 22 seasons, though the Rangers lead two games to one.
Toronto shortstop Troy Tulowitzki slugged a three-run homer in the sixth inning that made up for several early squanders, as the Jays hit into four double plays, all with runners in scoring position and two with the bases loaded. Their first two runners to cross the plate did so without the benefit of a run-scoring hit, plating them on one of those double plays and a walk.
For Tulowitzki, who missed two weeks in late September with a broken bone near his shoulder, the homer was his first hit in 11 tries this series. Asked about the shortstop’s struggles before the game, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said, “Well, he’s not getting a lot of hits, but nobody in the middle of our lineup is getting a lot of hits.”
No longer. Josh Donaldson had two hits and a walk, Edwin Encarnacion had two walks, Jose Bautista singled and Tulowitzki went 2-for-3 with a walk, reversing the fortunes of the Big Four. They went 5-for-12 with two extra-base hits after going 5-for-35 with one extra-base hit in the series’ first two games.
Estrada, who struck out four and walked none, had the outfield supporting him in grand fashion: Center fielder Kevin Pillar caught a deep fly ball while crashing into the wall in the second inning, and left fielder Ben Revere tracked down a shot deep in the gap to end the fourth. Both saved extrabase hits.
Rangers starter Martin Perez didn’t get the same fielding aid as Estrada, as his center fielder, Delino DeShields, misplayed a ball that looked a lot like the one Pillar snared, only this became a leadoff double from Toronto’s Dioner Navarro in the second inning. Similarly, Donaldson led off the fourth with a sinking liner deep into the right-center gap that just eluded DeShields’ dive for a double. Both later scored.
Perez did not help his cause with his wildness. After Donaldson’s double, Perez issued a oneout intentional walk to Encarnacion, and he followed up with two unintentional walks to Chris Colabello and Tulowitzki to give up a run.