Blue Jays don't believe in the curse!
Blue Jays beat Rangers to force Game 5:
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Blue Jays are headed back to Toronto, alive and most certainly kicking after a second straight win in Texas.
Backed by early Josh Donaldson, Chris Colabello and Kevin Pillar home runs, R.A. Dickey and David Price combined for 7 2/3 innings as Toronto defeated the Texas Rangers 8-4 to tie their American League Division Series at two games apiece.
The rubber match goes Wednesday at the Rogers Centre, with hope of a happy ending for Toronto's first foray into the playoffs in 22 years.
"The fact we're going back is everything," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "We've been good at home all year ... That's where we're best."
The Jays were 53-28 at home this season and 40-41 on the road. Still the home team has yet to win in this series.
Monday's victory was almost overshadowed by Gibbons' pitching strategy, which worked but didn't seem that popular.
The Jays were leading 7-1 when Price relieved Dickey with two outs and one man on in the fifth.
That meant the 40-year-old knuckleballer was denied a win in his first post-season start. And that Price, Toronto's ace, won't start in the deciding game. Instead Marcus Stroman will face Cole Hamels in a rematch of Game 2.
With the season on the line Monday, Gibbons was not going to allow anything to go south.
"Probably not a relationship-building move," he saw wryly of the pitching change. "But a team win, that's what I was looking for."
Dickey, who became the oldest starting pitcher in MLB history to make his post-season debut, was diplomatic although he made it clear he wanted to continue.
"Gibby's the manager and what he says goes. I'm an employee and sometimes you don't necessarily like what your boss wants you to do. But I respect him.
"So am I disappointed? Sure, I think any competitor should be," he added. "But at the end of the day, I've said this before and I mean it, it's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't care who gets the credit. And we won today and so we're going back to Toronto with a chance."
He said it helped that he was yielding to a "bazooka" like Price, a fellow Nashville native who shares the same agent.
"Has there ever been a game where one Cy Young (winner) has handed the ball to another one? That's kind of cool," Dickey said.
But asked if he would have been so understanding earlier in his career, Dickey said: "No."
Gibbons said he made the move to have Price pitch to Shin-Soo Choo.
"One thing I've learned over the years is sometimes the best way you win games is don't let a team get back into it," he said.
"I know what kind of offence they have," he added of Texas.
Price dispatched Choo with one pitch to end the inning.
The big left-hander threw 50 pitches over three innings, giving up three runs on six hits with two strikeouts. Aaron Sanchez and Roberto Osuna finished it off for the Jays.
www.tsn.ca/price-wins-in-relief-blue-jays-beat-rangers-to-force-game-5-1.375870