ALDS Game 1: Blue Jays blast Cole Hamels, beat Rangers in Texas

The Toronto Blue Jays’ bats came alive in Arlington, chasing Texas Rangers starter Cole Hamels in the fourth inning, to win Game 1 of the ALDS 10-1.

The offensive onslaught began in the third inning, as the Blue Jays put up five runs, three of them coming from Troy Tulowitzki’s bases-clearing triple. Hamels returned in the fourth and allowed a leadoff home run to Melvin Upton Jr. that made it 6-0 and Josh Donaldson’s RBI single three batters later ended Hamels’ outing. The Rangers’ bullpen came in and kept the Blue Jays quiet until the ninth, when Jose Bautista blasted a three-run homer off Jake Diekman. Given the turbulent recent history between the two teams dating back to their emotional playoff series last year, that added insult to injury.

While the run support was certainly appreciated, Toronto right-hander Marco Estrada didn’t need it. Estrada pitched 8 1/3 innings, allowing the one Texas run in the ninth, and the Blue Jays stole a game from the Rangers on the road.

• Estrada was tremendous, carrying the form from his final three regular-season starts (two earned runs over 19 innings) into this one. He couldn’t pull off the complete game shutout – it would have been the first of his career – but he happily took the win and the lead in the series.

• Donaldson is putting his September struggles behind, going 4-for-4 with a walk. The reigning AL MVP also did well in the AL wild-card game against the Baltimore Orioles with two hits and a run. That’s a great sign for Toronto going forward.

• Tulowitzki had three hits, the biggest happening in the third with his three-RBI triple. His great defense at shortstop cannot be overstated, either.

• Elvis Andrus had two of Texas’ four hits, including a triple in the ninth inning and he scored the Rangers’ only run.

• Hamels’ sterling postseason reputation took a bit of a hit with this start. The 2008 World Series MVP didn’t get out of the fourth and gave up seven runs. Take into account his rough final month of the season and there’s plenty of reason for the Rangers to be worried.

• So every Rangers hitter, minus Andrus? The rest of the lineup managed two hits and no walks. Carlos Gomez, Jonathan Lucroy and Shin-Soo Choo each struck out twice.

The rare Tulowitzki triple – his first since 2014 – that scored three Toronto runs, probably doesn’t result in a hit if Desmond had taken a better route to the ball in right-center field. Desmond, in his first season being an outfielder after years as a shortstop, did not get a good jump and seemed to slow down when approaching the outfield wall and could only watch as the fly ball off Tulowitzki’s bat sailed beyond his outstretched glove.

The Rangers ran away with the AL West title, meaning they weren’t playing particularly meaningful games down the stretch. Does that explain, at least in part, their lack of sharpness? Jonathan Lucroy let a few pitches get by him behind the plate and a few of his teammates had some adventures in the field as well. The best-of-five division series format does not give teams much time to get back into a rhythm.

This isn’t the first time Hamels has run into some trouble pitching at home. Even though his stats this season were excellent, he wasn’t all that great on the mound at Globe Life Park. It’s definitely a hitter’s park, and most of the AL West parks aren’t, but the disparity between Hamels’ ERA on the road and at home is still head-scratching.

Game 2 of the series goes 1 p.m. ET Friday, with the Blue Jays looking to take a 2-0 lead. Twenty-game winner J.A. Happ starts for Toronto while Rangers right-hander Yu Darvish will play a big part in trying to get Texas even.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr