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ALDS: Rangers jump out to lead in Toronto; Astros fight off rain, Royals

TORONTO – A big day by the bottom of Texas’ batting order helped the Rangers overcome an injury to slugger Adrian Beltre in the start of their postseason run.

Robinson Chirinos hit a two-run homer against David Price, Rougned Odor added a solo shot, and the Rangers beat the Blue Jays 5-3 on Thursday in their AL Division Series opener as postseason baseball returned to Toronto for the first time in 22 years.

“It means a lot to the team to come to Toronto and win that first game against a great pitcher,” Chirinos said.

Both starting third basemen left with injuries: Beltre came in the third with a strained muscle in his lower back and Toronto’s Josh Donaldson in the fifth after he was kneed in the head while sliding in an attempt to break up a double play.

Rangers manager Jeff Banister said he wasn’t sure whether Beltre would be available for Game 2 on Friday. In an effort to remain in the series, Beltre had a cortisone shot.

“Obviously we want Adrian in there,” Banister said. “He’s the heart and soul of this ballclub.”

After going for tests at a hospital, Beltre returned to the clubhouse about an hour after the game and walked gingerly.

An MRI confirmed Beltre had a strained back but no structural damage, general manager Jon Daniels said.

“We haven’t ruled him out of tomorrow’s game,” Daniels said.

Texas will have Joey Gallo and Ed Lucas travel from their Arizona Fall League team in case Beltre needs to be removed from the roster, a decision that also would rule Beltre out of the AL Championship Series.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Donaldson felt light-headed while playing defense in the top of the fifth, forcing the AL MVP candidate to come out of the game.

“They check for concussions, and apparently he passed all the tests. So that’s good news,” Gibbons said.

Yovani Gallardo (1-0) allowed two runs and four hits in five innings.

“That’s what we really needed from him,” Banister said. “I think he did a great job.”

Gallardo is 4-0 with a 1.78 earned run average in four career starts against Toronto.

“We got in some good hitter’s counts and he wouldn’t give in,” Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin said. “He didn’t make those mistakes that we capitalize on.”.

Keone Kela, Jake Diekman and Sam Dyson finished, with Dyson getting a save.

Pitching on 11 days’ rest, Price (0-1) allowed five runs and five hits in seven innings. He dropped to 1-6 with a 4.79 ERA in 11 postseason games and is 0-6 in six playoff starts.

“I expect to have better results,” a subdued Price said.

Gibbons said Price was the victim of timely hits by the Rangers.

“He wasn’t getting hit around. It was just a couple of key hits at some key times that made the difference,” Gibbons said.

Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista hit a solo homer in the sixth then left with a sore right hamstring after popping out in the eighth and was replaced in right by Dalton Pompey.

The Blue Jays said Bautista is expected to play Friday.

Delino DeShields and Beltre hit RBI-singles to give Texas a 2-0 lead in the third. Beltre, injured when sliding into second base as Prince Fielder hit into an inning-ending double play in the first, had difficulty running and was replaced by rookie Hanser Alberto in the bottom of third.

Edwin Encarnacion’s run-scoring infield single cut the deficit in half in the fourth–the first run Toronto scored off Gallardo in three meetings this season.

Price hit Odor with a pitch for the second consecutive at-bat, and Chirinos homered for a 4-1 lead.

“I think he relaxed a little bit with the people at the bottom of the lineup,” Chirinos said.

Price hit just three batters all season, none after Toronto obtained him from Detroit on July 30th.

Kevin Pillar doubled home Russell Martin in the bottom half, but Toronto left a runner at third when pinch-hitter Ezequiel Carerra, batting in Donaldson’s spot, hit an inning-ending groundouty.

Cliff Pennington took over defensively in the sixth.

Bautista’s leadoff homer off Kela cut it to 4-3 in the sixth – the first run off the pitcher since July 30. Odor homered in the seventh.

Astros 5, Royals 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Collin McHugh and the Houston Astros beat the Kansas City Royals at their own game Thursday night, relying on sharp pitching and stingy defense for a 5-2 victory in the opener of their AL Division Series.

McHugh (1-0) allowed four hits, including a pair of solo homers by Kendrys Morales, while pitching around a 49-minute rain delay. The right-hander lasted six innings before turning the game over to his bullpen, which scattered three runners over the final three frames.

Tony Sipp, Will Harris and Oliver Perez got the game to Luke Gregerson, part of Oakland’s wild-card collapse in Kansas City last year. He handled the ninth to earn a save.

George Springer and Colby Rasmus went deep for the homer-happy Astros, but they also scored via the same sort of small ball the Royals used in reaching the World Series last season.

Game 2 is Friday, with lefty Scott Kazmir on the mound for Houston against right-hander Johnny Cueto in a matchup of pitchers traded during the season.

Yordano Ventura (0-1) yielded three runs on four hits and a walk in two innings for Kansas City, but did not come back following the delay. Chris Young served up Springer’s home run with one out in the fifth, but tossed four otherwise solid innings of relief.

The Astros, who struggled so mightily on the road this season, have apparently solved their woes just in time. They beat the Yankees 3-0 in New York in Tuesday night’s wild-card game, then took care of a Royals club built specifically for spacious Kauffman Stadium.

“That’s a young, athletic team and they played really, really good defense,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said.

Houston also made it the first time since 1970 that visiting teams won baseball’s first four postseason games, STATS said. The other two times it happened were 1906 and 1923.

The Astros wasted no time getting Ventura in trouble, loading the bases with nobody out in the first inning. The hard-throwing ace settled down to retire the next three batters, but Rasmus and Evan Gattis provided RBI groundouts to give Houston a 2-0 lead.

Jose Altuve tacked on another run in the second with a single to right.

The Royals answered in the bottom half, just as rain started to fall, when Morales ripped McHugh’s 89 mph fastball down the right-field line.

The rain became a downpour as the inning progressed, and lightning sent fans scurrying for the concourse.

The tarp was pulled onto the field between innings.

When the game resumed, the Royals sent Young to the mound rather than Ventura.

“It was pushing 60 minutes there,” Yost said. “He was just settling in when it started to rain.”

Astros manager A.J. Hinch stuck with McHugh even though he hadn’t thrown a pitch for nearly an hour.

Morales got the better of McHugh again in the fourth, driving a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right. Morales became the first Royals player with two homers in a postseason game since George Brett against Toronto in the 1985 AL Championship Series.

Unfortunately for the Royals, Morales was the only hitter who could solve McHugh. That left the darlings of last year’s postseason facing a crucial Game 2 on Friday, when another defeat would leave them on the brink of elimination

Rasmus also homered in the wild-card game at Yankee Stadium. He has six homers and 11 RBIs in his last nine games.

Houston ranked second in the majors with 230 homers this year, two behind Toronto.



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