Blue Jays try to force deciding Game 7 vs Royals in ALCS
David Price takes the mound in another do or die match
The Kansas City Royals have established a reputation for dramatic postseason comebacks the past couple of years, beginning with last season's wild-card victory over Oakland.
Turns out, the Toronto Blue Jays have some never-say-quit spirit as well.
After going on a second-half run to make the playoffs, then rallying from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Texas in a best-of-five matchup, the Blue Jays will try to beat the Royals in another win-or-else situation in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series on Friday night.
Toronto forced the series back to Kansas City with a 7-1 rout on Wednesday, closing to 3-2.
"You look at all the elimination games, our offense has really come to life," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Thursday. "We've said all along that's the key to our team, scoring runs. You hate to make a habit of it, but maybe we can pull it off again."
David Price will take the mound for the Blue Jays after his collapse in the series opener, when he tossed six shutout innings and then surrendered five runs in the seventh.
Yordano Ventura will oppose him for Kansas City. He was only marginally better, allowing three runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings before watching the comeback win from the dugout.
The Blue Jays promise they will be, too.
Toronto lost the first two games against the Rangers at home, then won three straight with its season hanging in the balance. The first two were at Texas, and the last at Rogers Centre, but none of the victories was even close — all by at least three runs.
The Blue Jays lost the first two games in Kansas City, too. But in Game 3 in Toronto, the hosts overcame a 1-0 deficit and rolled to an 11-8 victory.
"We've been through a bunch of hurdles all year," Blue Jays outfielder Chris Colabello said. "We were 7 1/2 games (back) at the deadlines. ... We had to claw back from that. We were down two games back in the division series and we clawed back from that. I'll tell you what, we're going to leave everything we have out there."
While the homer-happy Blue Jays were built with the small dimensions of Rogers Centre in mind, the speedy, defensive-minded Royals were built for their home park.
Not surprisingly, the Blue Jays failed to homer in the first two games of the ALCS in Kansas City, but hit four long balls in Toronto, including three in Game 3.
The big question in Game 6 is which starting pitchers will show up.
For the Blue Jays, will it be the Price who was dominant for six innings in Game 1, recording 18 straight outs at one point? Or the rattled former Cy Young Award winner who, when an easy popup fell for a single, proceeded to allow five runs and fall to 0-7 in seven playoff starts?
"I know what I'm capable of doing and I think everybody in this room knows what I'm capable of doing," he said. "I think I just kind of want to do it too bad. And it's long overdue for me to get a win as a starter in the playoffs, and I'll be ready to change that story tomorrow."