Rangers take ALDS Game 1 against Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays lost to the Texas Rangers in Game 1 of the ALDS Thursday.

The Rangers won Game 1 of the ALDS, 5–3, against the Blue Jays Thursday to take a 1–0 series lead. 

Toronto ace David Price, acquired at the trade deadline to bolster the team’s pitching rotation, gave up five runs in seven innings. Yovani Gallardo started the game for Texas and allowed two runs in five innings. 

Two of the Blue Jays’ best players left the game with injuries. Josh Donaldson exited with a head injury after taking a knee to the head on a slide and Jose Bautista left with a tight hamstring. Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre was also forced to leave the game with a back strain.

Two of Texas’s runs came from unlikely sources, as catcher Robinson Chirinos and light-hitting infielder Rougned Odor hit solo home runs. Bautista hit a solo homer in the sixth inning that brought the Jays to within a run and Edwin Encarnacion came within a few feet of tying the game on the next at-bat. 

Game 2 of the series is Friday afternoon in Toronto, with first pitch scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET. Cole Hamels takes the mound for the Rangers, while Marcus Stroman, who has recovered from a torn ACL suffered in spring training, gets the start for the Jays. 

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- Dan Gartland