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MLB : ATS Matchup
Wednesday 10/14/2015Line$ LineOU LineScore
TEXAS  HAMELS )
 
TORONTO  STROMAN )
+1.5  -135

-1.5  +115
+160

-170

8ov
 
3
Final
6

TEXAS (90 - 76) at TORONTO (95 - 71)
View Previous GameView Next Game
Wednesday, 10/14/2015 4:05 PM
COLE HAMELS (L) vs. MARCUS STROMAN (R)
AL Division Series - Best of 5 - Game 5 - Tied 2-2
Board OpeningLatest
 LineTotalLineTotal
935TEXAS+160Ov 8.5,-110+165Ov 8,+100
936TORONTO-170Un 8.5,-110-175Un 8,-120
ADVANCED TEAM STATS
TEXAS - Current Season Performance
 Team RecordsTeamOpponent
 W-LUnitsO-URunsAvgOBPSLGOPSRunsAvgOBPSLGOPS
All Games90-76+31.774-814.60.2560.3170.4090.7274.50.2610.3230.4190.742
Road Games47-36+2836-434.30.2390.2980.3820.6804.30.2550.3160.4160.732
vs Right-handed Starters54-45+17.842-514.50.2610.3200.4090.7294.10.2510.3100.4070.717
Past 7 Games3-4+0.54-25.10.2280.2790.3430.6225.00.2410.2970.4190.716
Turf Games3-2+3.22-23.80.2290.2790.3560.6354.40.1990.2630.3630.626
Day Games25-25+5.222-234.80.2500.3190.3840.7044.80.2640.3260.4300.756
Playoff games2-1+2.82-05.00.2290.2720.3050.5775.00.2180.2680.4120.679
TEXAS - Team Hitting and Fielding Statistics
Team BattingTeam BattingTeam Fielding
 RunsAVGOBPGABH2B3BHRSLGRBIBBSOSBLOBGIDPERRDPOSB
All Games4.60.2560.31716656611449282321740.4097195101263101115212212217686
Road Games4.30.2390.29883284668113314820.3823332386805054858637535
Righty Starters4.50.2610.32099335787617022940.4094062947227668379699750
TEXAS - Bullpen Pitching Statistics
 ERAWHIPIPRERHHRBBSOW-LSVBSVPct.
All Games4.021.3325242462344896520947527-20471674.6%
Road Games4.041.259243116109213319324017-930878.9%

TORONTO - Current Season Performance
 Team RecordsTeamOpponent
 W-LUnitsO-URunsAvgOBPSLGOPSRunsAvgOBPSLGOPS
All Games95-71+8.180-745.50.2670.3360.4550.7914.10.2470.2980.4000.698
Home Games53-30+8.532-465.50.2740.3450.4780.8243.70.2270.2770.3720.649
vs Left-handed Starters23-18-3.322-195.60.2700.3390.4620.8004.40.2600.3020.4210.723
Past 7 Games3-4-3.64-14.90.2650.3230.4650.7885.10.2260.2590.3510.609
Turf Games53-30+8.532-465.50.2740.3450.4780.8243.70.2270.2770.3720.649
Day Games38-29+2.433-285.70.2750.3430.4690.8114.30.2510.3010.4060.707
Playoff games1-2-32-05.00.2180.2680.4120.6795.00.2290.2720.3050.577
TORONTO - Team Hitting and Fielding Statistics
Team BattingTeam BattingTeam Fielding
 RunsAVGOBPGABH2B3BHRSLGRBIBBSOSBLOBGIDPERRDPOSB
All Games5.50.2670.33616656601513316172380.45586758311789210811709114861
Home Games5.50.2740.34583274475217461250.4784442995434654472436932
Lefty Starters5.60.2700.339411404379855580.4622201462802625758253214
TORONTO - Bullpen Pitching Statistics
 ERAWHIPIPRERHHRBBSOW-LSVBSVPct.
All Games3.481.133491.72091904245713347222-28342260.7%
Home Games2.971.068239.7917920625502338-12161159.3%
SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
TEXAS - Schedule
 Team StatsOpp Stats
DateTeam StarterOpponentOpp StarterScoreW/LLineTot.O/UHLOBEHLOBE
9/30/2015GALLARDO(R)DETROITBOYD(L)6-2W-1859.5 unU9401271
10/1/2015HOLLAND(L)LA ANGELSHEANEY(L)5-3W-1109 unU880450
10/2/2015PEREZ(L)LA ANGELSWEAVER(R)1-2L-1159.5 evU360642
10/3/2015LEWIS(R)LA ANGELSSANTIAGO(L)10-11L-1109 ovO13611792
10/4/2015HAMELS(L)LA ANGELSRICHARDS(R)9-2W-1258.5 evO1061340
10/8/2015GALLARDO(R)@ TORONTOPRICE(L)5-3W2208 ovP540641
10/9/2015HAMELS(L)@ TORONTOSTROMAN(R)6-4W1557.5 ovO1181871
10/11/2015PEREZ(L)TORONTOESTRADA(R)1-5L+13010 ovU541951
10/12/2015HOLLAND(L)TORONTODICKEY(R)4-8L+13510 ovO11601280
10/14/2015HAMELS(L)@ TORONTOSTROMAN(R) 

TORONTO - Schedule
 Team StatsOpp Stats
DateTeam StarterOpponentOpp StarterScoreW/LLineTot.O/UHLOBEHLOBE
9/30/2015STROMAN(R)@ BALTIMOREGONZALEZ(R)15-2W-1558 evO18130764
9/30/2015DICKEY(R)@ BALTIMOREGAUSMAN(R)1-8L1108 unO5401140
10/1/2015HUTCHISON(R)@ BALTIMOREWILSON(R)4-6L1707.5 evO9708120
10/2/2015BUEHRLE(L)@ TAMPA BAYRAMIREZ(R)8-4W-1258 ovO1790640
10/3/2015ESTRADA(R)@ TAMPA BAYARCHER(R)3-4L-1057 ovP880540
10/4/2015BUEHRLE(L)@ TAMPA BAYMOORE(L)3-12L-1458.5 ovO91021320
10/8/2015PRICE(L)TEXASGALLARDO(R)3-5L-2408 ovP641540
10/9/2015STROMAN(R)TEXASHAMELS(L)4-6L-1657.5 ovO8711181
10/11/2015ESTRADA(R)@ TEXASPEREZ(L)5-1W-14010 ovU951541
10/12/2015DICKEY(R)@ TEXASHOLLAND(L)8-4W-14510 ovO12801160
10/14/2015STROMAN(R)TEXASHAMELS(L) 
KEY GAME INFORMATION
TEXAS: When Yu Darvish pitched only one inning this spring before season-ending elbow surgery, the Texas Rangers were already off to an ominous start.
The Rangers lost their ace even before what they are still hoping will be a comeback season.
''There is no way to spin that, other than it's a tough deal for us. He's one of the best pitchers in the game,'' general manager Jon Daniels said this spring. ''That being said, it's one guy. It's not 17. Good teams and good organizations have had similar news at similar times before and found a way. That's got to be our mentality.''
Texas had 22 different players spend time on the disabled list last season, including Darvish missing the final seven weeks with elbow inflammation before needing Tommy John ligament-replacement surgery this spring.
The aching result for the Rangers was the American League's worst record (67-95) and their most losses since 1985, ending an impressive four-year run of 90-win seasons with their only two World Series appearances (2010-11).
Darvish was 10-7 and an All-Star again before getting sidelined last season.
As for the top of the rotation without him, the January trade to get local pitcher Yovani Gallardo proved even more important. Gallardo, who can be a free agent after this season, started the last five season openers for Milwaukee.
Derek Holland, who didn't pitch until September last season after knee surgery, had a strong finish. Shoulder soreness slowed the left-hander this spring, but that likely set him up to start the home opener April 10 against Houston, in the fifth game of the season.
Also among the injured in 2014 were slugger Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo, the big offensive additions before last season.
Fielder had missed only one game the previous five seasons with Detroit and Milwaukee before being limited to only 42 games and three home runs in his Rangers debut because a herniated disk in his neck that required surgery. Choo played 123 games, but his on-base percentage dipped from .423 in 2013 for Cincinnati to .340 before operations late last season for a bone spur in his left elbow and torn cartilage in his left ankle.
''There's no telling what this ballclub can do,'' new manager Jeff Banister said. ''They've yet to have an opportunity to play together. Let's hope they get a really strong shot of playing together for 162-plus (games).''
Here are a few things to know about the Rangers, who open the season April 6 at Oakland:
CLOSING TIME: Neftali Feliz is back in his World Series role for the Rangers as their closer after an ill-fated and injury-plagued attempt to be a starter. The right-hander was 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA in eight games (seven starts) in 2012 before Tommy John surgery. Feliz was 2-1 with 13 saves in 14 chances with a 1.99 ERA in 30 relief appearances after rejoining the Rangers last July, just before Joakim Soria was traded.
BELTRE'S IMPACT: Third baseman Adrian Beltre is going into his 17th major league season, his fifth with the Rangers and signed through next season. ''He's the heart and soul of this club,'' Banister said. ''A shining light in the storm, that's what he was last year. ... Do yourself a favor and watch that last at-bat he put together in 2014.'' Determined not to be the final out of the season, Beltre went from an 0-2 count to getting a single on the third straight slider thrown after that.
LEFT OF CENTER: With pretty much every other defensive position set, Jake Smolinski and Ryan Ruo entered spring as candidates in left field. Both showed promising glimpses in short stints in their major league debuts the second half of last season. Ryan Ludwick, who made his major league debut with Texas in 2002 and played for five other teams the past decade, was a non-roster invitee who could play left. Michael Choice, who got 35 of his 55 outfield starts in left last year, was the early man out when optioned to the minors in mid-March. Choo moves from left to right after Alex Rios departed in free agency.
MISSING WORK: The 26 different DL stints for the Rangers last season amounted to 2,281 days lost. That was 833 more than Arizona, who had the second most, and more than double any other American League team.
TORONTO: TORONTO (AP) - The upcoming season for the Toronto Blue Jays seems destined to be defined by the one young pitcher who'll miss it and the two even younger guys who'll try to replace him.
Toronto's plans for ending baseball's longest active playoff drought took a serious hit when Marcus Stroman suffered a season-ending knee injury in spring training.
The second-year right-hander tore a ligament when his knee buckled as he backed off a bunt during a pregame fielding drill. He's out for the year after undergoing surgery.
''It's tough,'' Stroman said. ''I just feel like I let my team down. I've worked harder than I ever had this offseason.''
The injury changed Toronto's thinking about 22-year-old right-hander Aaron Sanchez, who might have been closing games rather than starting them if Stroman was still healthy, and 21-year-old lefty Daniel Norris, the van-dwelling surfer dude.
The two pitchers now look likely to get their shot in Toronto's rotation, slotting in behind 200-inning workhorses R.A Dickey and Mark Buehrle, and 24-year-old right-hander Drew Hutchison.
How successful they are could well determine what happens to the Blue Jays, out of the postseason since winning their second straight World Series in 1993 and the only team that hasn't reached the playoffs this century.
''We may have to rely on a young guy who may not be proven,'' manager John Gibbons said. ''Stro was a baby, too, but a special guy.''
Sanchez has already shown signs that he could also be special. He excelled out of the bullpen in 24 games last season, posting three saves and a 1.09 ERA in 33 innings, striking out 27 while walking nine and holding opponents to a .128 average.
With the increased demands of a starting role lying ahead, the hard-throwing Sanchez has spent this spring refining his slider.
''With the way he throws, it could turn into a big strikeout pitch for him,'' Gibbons said.
The Blue Jays are also high on Norris, currently better known for spending his winters searching for prime surfing spots while living out of a 1978 Volkswagen camper van nicknamed ''Shaggy.''
''He's a different bird,'' Gibbons said. ''Anytime you live in a van, I wouldn't say that's normal.''
Norris had an abnormal 2014 season, rising from Class A to the majors after going 12-2 with a 2.53 ERA at three minor league stops. He underwent elbow surgery last October to remove bone spurs, and expects to be better this year than the pitcher who made five appearances for the Blue Jays in September.
''He's a student of the game,'' Gibbons said. ''He's a very smart kid and he's grounded. He's got the most important thing: He's got a great arm.''
After Jose Reyes and the Blue Jays went 83-79, here's what else to watch as they try to move up:
MIGHTY MIGUEL: Sanchez and Norris aren't the only impressive young arms expected to break camp with the Blue Jays. Right-hander Miguel Castro, 20, didn't allow a run in his first five spring appearances, striking out eight and walking none while allowing three hits over nine innings. A hard thrower who stands an imposing 6-foot-5, Castro has put himself in position to jump from Class A, where he went 8-3 with a 2.68 ERA last season, all the way to the majors. ''He looks like a seasoned vet out there, under control, very relaxed,'' Gibbons said.
NEW GUYS, NEW FOCUS: Toronto strengthened its lineup over the winter by signing free agent catcher Russell Martin to a five-year, $82 million contract and acquiring All-Star third baseman Josh Donaldson from Oakland. Slugger Jose Bautista has praised the newcomers for making a difference in the clubhouse with their winning pedigree and intense focus. ''We need something along those lines here every now and then,'' Bautista said. ''It's good to have guys to whom winning matters.''
BLOCKING THE PLATE: Adding Martin gave the Blue Jays a logjam at catcher, where incumbent Dioner Navarro is signed through 2015 and Josh Thole is Dickey's knuckleball specialist. Martin has worked hard this spring to prove he can handle Dickey's floater, which could mean Thole is ticketed for Triple-A. Or, Toronto may yet trade the switch-hitting Navarro to open room at DH for Edwin Encarnacion, who has been slowed this spring by a balky back and may not be able to handle regular duty at first base.
PREVIEW
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PA SPORTSTICKER AL PREVIEW (TEXAS-TORONTO) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Adds photo links. Retransmitting. With AP Photos.)

*Rangers-Blue Jays Preview* ===========================

By IAN HARRISON Associated Press

Texas (88-74) at Toronto (93-69), 4:07 p.m. EDT

TORONTO (AP) -- The Toronto Blue Jays stacked a pair of former Cy Young Award winners to prolong their stay in the AL Division Series.

For the deciding Game 5, they'll turn to a starter who was once expected to miss the entire season.

Marcus Stroman, who tore a ligament in his left knee during a spring training fielding drill in March, will get the ball when the Blue Jays host the Texas Rangers in a winner-take-all affair on Wednesday afternoon.

"He's defied all the odds, that's for sure," manager John Gibbons said. "If anybody can rise to the occasion, it would be him."

Stroman went 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA after rejoining the rotation in mid-September. He'll face Texas lefty Cole Hamels.

After losing the first two games at home, then bouncing back in Game 3 on Sunday night, the Blue Jays routed the Rangers in Texas. Toronto started knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, the 2012 NL Cy Young winner, and replaced him during the fifth inning with hard-throwing left-hander David Price, who won the AL award in 2012.

Now Stroman, who spent most of the summer rehabbing his knee at Duke University while also finishing up his degree, will try to pitch the Blue Jays into their first AL Championship Series since 1993, when Toronto won the second of back-to-back World Series titles.

"I'm just so excited for this opportunity," the 24-year-old righty said Tuesday as the Blue Jays held an optional workout. "Those dog days at Duke when it's kind of tough to get through a workout with the knee pain, that's what you kind of have in the back of your mind to keep you going."

"Obviously, it's a perfect situation that kind of played out in my head, and it's happening. I get the chills just thinking about being in the position that I am now," he said.

Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos sat in the back row of the press conference room Tuesday and listened as Gibbons and Stroman addressed the media. Speaking in the hallway afterward, Anthopoulos acknowledged it was quite a setback when Stroman first suffered his injury.

"I might yell a little bit, but I don't throw stuff and bang walls," Anthopoulos said. "I just got in the car and drove for a little bit."

By July, as he continued to receive positive updates on Stroman's recovery, the Blue Jays GM started to believe a comeback was likely.

"We factored it in when we were looking to acquire starters," Anthopoulos said, "but you had no assurances and no guarantees. Even when he got injured we knew there was a chance, you just don't want to count on it."

After a series of simulated games at Toronto's spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida, Stroman started at Class A Lansing on Sept. 2, striking out seven in 4 2-3 hitless innings. He struggled in a Triple-A game against Pawtucket on Sept. 7, but bounced back to beat the New York Yankees in his season debut five days later.

"After that we all felt, `We need this guy, let's see what he can do,"' Gibbons said. "He took off with it."

First baseman Chris Colabello, who previously played against Stroman in Double-A, said the outgoing pitcher with the dyed-blonde hairdo has become "like a little brother to me," one he has every faith in for Game 5.

"Stro just exudes greatness, confidence, belief," Colabello said. "Whatever word you want to use to describe him, he's all of that. Watching him pitch brings energy to the fans, brings energy to us. Nothing surprises me when it comes to Stro."

Stroman allowed four runs, three earned, over seven innings but didn't get a decision in Game 2, which Texas won 6-4 in 14 innings.

"Look, he's a tough opponent," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said Tuesday as his team worked out in Texas before flying to Toronto. "This kid's got electric stuff."

Catcher Chris Gimenez said it will be important for the Rangers to try and slow down Stroman's pace.

"He loves to work quick," Gimenez said. "He's very exuberant on the mound with his emotions, and that's a good thing, don't get me wrong. But for us to be successful, we've really got to stick to our game plan, which is bringing him up in the zone, slowing him down and getting him in the middle of the plate."

Just as he was in Game 2, Stroman will be opposed by Hamels.

"Who else would you rather have on the mound when you have to win a game than your ace?" Gimenez asked.

The Rangers also hope to have four-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner Adrian Beltre in the lineup again Wednesday. The slugger left Game 1 with a strained back but returned with two hits in Game 4. Banister said Tuesday that he hadn't heard anything new from his training staff about Beltre's condition.

"I take that as we're all good," Banister said.

The Rangers, who brought up infielders Joey Gallo and Ed Lucas from their Fall League team as insurance after Game 1, returned those two players to Phoenix on Tuesday.

Gibbons wouldn't say whether Price, who threw 50 pitches in a three-inning relief stint Monday, would be available out of the bullpen again Wednesday.

"I wouldn't necessarily count on it," Gibbons said. "David was very instrumental in getting us here but he's not here to be abused, either."

Still, with left-hander Brett Cecil out for the playoffs after tearing his left calf in Game 2, and fellow lefty Aaron Loup away from the team for personal reasons, Price is the only left-hander on Toronto's active roster. Asked about Loup's status Tuesday, Gibbons said he didn't know when the sidearming southpaw would rejoin the Blue Jays.

---

AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins in Arlington, Texas, contributed to this report.


Last Updated: 3/19/2024 4:28:55 AM EST.


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