Ryan Goins redeems himself in Game 3 of ALCS
Homers, drives in 3 vs. Royals after misplaying fly ball in Game 2
Misplayed fly ball? What misplayed fly ball?
Second baseman Ryan Goins knew how to make many Blue Jays fans forget about his performance in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series in Kansas City when he failed to make the play on Ben Zobrist's catchable pop-up in shallow right field.
With Toronto leading 3-0 on Saturday, Goins called off and then gave way to right-fielder Jose Bautista on a ball that wasn't caught and led to the first of five runs in the seventh inning of an eventual 6-3 Royals victory.
On Monday night in Toronto, Goins also made many Blue Jays fans forget about his 0-for-17 showing at the plate in a five-game victory over Texas in the AL Division Series.
In the second inning, the left-handed hitting Goins erased a 1-0 K.C. lead with a sharp two-run single to left field and scored later in the inning on a Josh Donaldson single to left.
Ryan Goins had 1 RBI in 23 postseason at-bats before that 2-RBI hit gave Blue Jays lead.
—@ESPNStatsInfoAfter Troy Tulowitzki and Donaldson homered to extend Toronto's lead to 9-2 in the third and the Royals closed the gap to 9-4 in the fifth, Goins stepped to the plate in the bottom of the inning and socked his first major league post-season homer to right-centre field off relief pitcher Kris Medlen.
1st HR for Ryan Goins since Sept 1. Goins went hitless for the entire Division Series, going 0-17. He now has a hit in every game in ALCS.
—@MLBONFOXIt was his first long ball since a two-run blast off Cleveland Indians reliever Bryan Shaw in a 5-3 Blue Jays victory on Sept. 1.
In the seventh, the sure-handed Goins went to his backhand on a sharp Lorenzo Cain grounder, quickly rose to his feet and watched his throw to first baseman Chris Colabello beat the Royals' speedy centre-fielder by a half-step.
Goins shifted to shortstop to start the top of the eighth inning after Tulowitzki was ejected from the game after taking the field. Tulowitzki argued a called third strike from home plate umpire John Hirschbeck to begin the bottom of the seventh.
On the final day of September, Goins became the first shortstop in Blue Jays history to have five hits in a game, a career-high for the 27-year-old Texan, when he reached base six times in Game 1 of a doubleheader in Baltimore on four singles, a double and a walk to help Toronto win its first AL East title since 1993.
Before this year's all-star break, Goins hit .226 with a .273 on-base percentage, but hit at a .274 clip with a .361 OBP after the break.