#16: Jays Stave Off ALCS Elimination,
Game 5, 2015
Kansas City Royals (1) at Toronto
Blue Jays (7)
2015 American League Championship
Series Game 5
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Rogers Centre
Down
three games to one to the Kansas City Royals in the 2015 American League
Championship Series, the Toronto Blue Jays had their backs against the wall.
But that was nothing new to this team in this postseason. They had fallen
behind the Texas Rangers two games to none in the ALDS and had rebounded and
won three straight games when facing elimination.
But
this was different. They had dropped the first two games of the series in
Kansas City, the second one after blowing a 3-0 lead in the latter innings.
After winning game three, they had been absolutely crushed by the Royals in the
fourth game, 14-2. The air had been let out of the Jays’ balloon, so to speak,
after being pummelled in front of their home crowd. With KC playing
unbelievable baseball, it was all but a foregone conclusion that the Jays would
be eliminated, especially after having looked so bad the previous day.
Edinson
Volquez was on the mound for Kansas City, his second start of the series after
having shut out Toronto for six innings in Game 1. Toronto countered with Marco
Estrada, the losing pitcher of that first game, giving up three of KC’s five
runs in his 5 1/3 innings of work.
Estrada
retired the Royals in order for the first two innings, striking out three KC
batters. Volquez got the Jays one-two-three in the first, but with one out in
the second, Toronto first baseman Chris Colabello hit a home run over the
left-centre field wall to give the Jays an early 1-0 lead.
Estrada
would face the minimum over the next three innings, giving up one hit but
having it erased on a double play ball. Volquez would surrender two hits over
those same innings but keep Toronto off the board. Another perfect inning
followed for Estrada in the top of the sixth, but in the bottom half of the
inning, the Jays knocked Volquez out of the game.
Left
fielder Ben Revere led off the inning with a walk, moved to second when third
baseman Josh Donaldson was hit by a pitch, then advanced to third on a walk to
right fielder Jose Bautista. Bases loaded, none out. Designated hitter Edwin
Encarnacion then walked giving the Jays a run without the benefit of a hit: 2-0
Blue Jays.
Volquez
was replaced by Kelvin Herrera and he struck out the first batter he faced,
Colabello. The next Toronto batter, Troy Tulowitzki, would lift the roof of the
Rogers Centre when he swung at the first pitch he saw from Herrera and drilled
a double over the head of centre fielder Lorenzo Cain that would clear the
bases and give the Jays a 5-0 lead.
Toronto
would pad the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when Bautista doubled,
scoring Donaldson after he had doubled. Kansas City would finally get on the
board in the eighth on a solo home run from catcher Salvador Perez, but the
Jays would get that run right back in the bottom of the inning when centre
fielder Kevin Pillar doubled home Tulowitzki to make the score 7-1.
Toronto
closer, Roberto Osuna would pitch a perfect ninth, getting all three of the
outs on ground balls and giving the fifth game to the Jays, keeping their World
Series dreams alive, for at least one night. While the Jays and their fans had
their hopes buoyed by the amazing victory, and thoughts of another comeback
started to rise, we all know how it ended: a heart-breaking Game 6 loss when
the Jays’ batters went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
But
for Game 5, the victory proved the Jays were not willing to go quietly.
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