Rangers beat Blue Jays to take 2-0 ALDS lead

Hanser Alberto’s clutch hit helped the Rangers take Game 2. (USATSI)

The Texas Rangers outlasted the Toronto Blue Jays in 14 innings Friday afternoon with a 6-4 victory that gave them a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five ALDS. The Rangers got 11 hits, 10 of which were singles, and some outstanding work from their bullpen.

The series now shifts to Texas for Game 3 (and Game 4, if necessary).

Here are seven things to know:

1. Rangers showed their mettle

The Rangers stormed out of the gate with a two-run first and then had a 3-1 lead in the middle of the second inning. The Blue Jays would promptly tie it in the bottom of the second and then grab a 4-3 lead in the fifth.

No matter for these Rangers, who should never be counted out. Delino DeShields singled to lead off the eighth, was sacrificed to second and scored on a pinch-hit single by Mike Napoli.

They then kept the powerful Blue Jays offense off the board through the 13th inning. In the 14th inning, Rougned Odor‘s infield single sparked a two-out rally. Chris Gimenez followed with a single to center and then Hanser Alberto (more on him later) came through with the go-ahead single, barely plating Odor in front of a great throw from Kevin Pillar. They’d add an insurance run and get a scoreless 14th from Ross Ohlendorf to take home the victory.

2. Blue Jays couldn’t close a one-run game

The Blue Jays had the best run differential in baseball in the regular season by far but won just 93 wins. How is that possible? Well, they were 15-28 in one-run games.

In Game 2, they were in position to take home a 4-3 victory and couldn’t get it done. Thanks to the Rangers’ tack-on run in the 14th, the Blue Jays lost this game by two, but the fact remains that they had a one-run lead late and couldn’t hold it.

Whether or not this means something is up for debate, but once again they couldn’t close down a one-run game.

3. The Rangers bullpen has been excellent this series

After throwing four innings in Game 1 and only allowing a Jose Bautista solo homer (is there really any shame in that?), the Rangers bullpen fired seven scoreless innings in Game 2.

So, in the series, here’s the line on the Rangers relievers:

11 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 12 K

This isn’t the work of the vaunted Royals back-end or — to go with a throwback — The Nasty Boys. It’s a Rangers bullpen that has consisted of Keone Kela, Jake Diekman, Sam Dyson, Shawn Tolleson and Ohlendorf.

As noted in the series preview, the Rangers had the best bullpen ERA in the AL from Sept. 1 through the end of the season and it’s carrying over into the playoffs. It’s an unheralded but extremely important group. Give them their due.

4. The Rangers have a huge advantage now

The Rangers are going home with a 2-0 lead, meaning the Blue Jays have to win three in a row to take the series. It’s pretty obvious to see how much the Blue Jays have their backs against the wall, but the numbers make it seem even more ominous.

First of all, the Blue Jays were 40-41 away from home this season. Given that they were 53-28 at home in the regular season and just lost twice in a row with their best starting pitchers on the mound, this shouldn’t inspire much confidence.

There’s also this: In best-of-five division series, the only teams to come back and win after trailing two games to none are the 1995 Mariners, 1999 Red Sox, 2001 Yankees, 2003 Red Sox and 2012 Giants.

Silver lining, Blue Jays fans? The last team to do this won the World Series. So did the 2001 Yankees. In fact, those Giants and Yankees clubs were the only two teams to overcome a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five series after losing both games at home.

So the season isn’t over. But it’s real close.

5. Blue Jays’ big guns had plenty of chances

Josh Donaldson homered in the first, but went 0 for 5 after that. Jose Bautista managed a single in a 1 for 5 effort. Edwin Encarnacion was 0 for 5 with a warning-track fly to end the bottom the 13th in most cruel fashion for the home fans.

Troy Tulowitzki, by the way, is 0 for 10 in the series.

6. Hanser Alberto redeems error, plays hero in Beltre’s absence

With Adrian Beltre out due to his back injury, Alberto was forced into starting the game. An error to open the second inning helped open the door for the Blue Jays to tie the game. Rangers starter Cole Hamels was not charged with an earned run in the inning thanks to Alberto’s error. And we all know about Beltre’s defensive exploits. So this seemed to be a storyline.

Alberto, however, is the one who came through with the eventual game-winning hit in the top of the 14th. Redemption was his.

7. The home team still hasn’t won

The first four games of the 2015 MLB postseason went in favor of the road team. It was a fun, little anomaly (Mike Axisa dug into the numbers late Thursday night), and now the total runs to five.

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